President Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America has sparked a new argument over who controls the waterways that connect to it — and who gets to charge for their use.
In an opinion piece published Friday on American Thinker, writer Noel S. Williams argues that the name change carries an inevitable consequence: Canada must immediately stop collecting tolls on any canals and locks it operates that connect to the newly christened Lake America.
“So be it!” Williams writes, referencing Trump’s order. “Here’s an inevitable ramification: Canada must immediately cease and desist from charging tolls on the use of any canals and locks it operates that are connected to Lake America.”
The column focuses on the Welland Canal, which connects Lake Ontario — now Lake America — to Lake Erie. Williams notes that U.S.-flagged commercial and pleasure craft currently pay tolls to transit Canadian-operated locks and the canal, with the fees going to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System.
Williams frames the tolls as evidence of what he says is America’s generosity being exploited, particularly by Canada and its “new friends, China.” He cites a section of the Code of Federal Regulations — section 402.12 — which lays out the toll schedule for the seaway system.
According to that regulation, the U.S. portion of tolls collected at the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation’s locks (Eisenhower and Snell) is waived by law, while other charges are in Canadian dollars and represent the Canadian share.
“In other words, we don’t charge to use our locks, but Canada charges to use theirs,” Williams writes. “Surely this American beneficence must change to comport with the new reality of Lake America.”
A new name, a new administration?
Williams argues that if the lake is named Lake America, it should logically be administered by the United States — including all the locks and canals within it. Otherwise, he asks, “what’s the point of going through all the palaver if shipping tolls continue to reimburse the stroppy Canadiens?”
To drive the point home, he suggests another rename: from the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System to the American Great Lakes Seaway System.
The column arrives amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Canada over trade, tariffs, and sovereignty, with Trump having repeatedly referred to Canada as the “51st state” and questioning the border arrangements that have governed cross-border commerce for decades.
Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario was announced earlier this week, according to the column, which treats the move as settled fact. The order is part of a broader push by the administration to emphasize American ownership and control over geographically significant landmarks and waterways.
The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System is a binational endeavor, jointly managed by the U.S. and Canadian governments. The U.S. side is operated by the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, a federal agency, while the Canadian side is run by the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, a non-profit that operates under the Canadian government’s authority.
Tolls have long been a point of contention between the two countries. U.S. law waives the American portion of tolls for commercial vessels, a policy that has been in place for years, while Canada continues to collect its share. Williams argues that this asymmetry is no longer tenable now that the lake bears an American name.
“One presumes that Lake America will be administered by America, including all the locks and canals therein,” he writes.
Reactions and implications
The column has not yet drawn an official response from either the Trump administration or the Canadian government. However, the suggestion that the U.S. should unilaterally take over the seaway system is likely to be met with strong resistance in Ottawa, where the waterway is seen as a critical trade route for Canadian exports and a matter of national sovereignty.
Shipping industry experts note that any move to impose U.S. control over Canadian-operated locks would have profound implications for cross-border trade, potentially disrupting the flow of goods that relies on the seaway’s integrated network of canals, locks, and channels.
Williams, for his part, is unapologetic. The name change, he writes, “must change to comport with the new reality of Lake America.”
The article concludes with a pitch for donations to American Thinker, noting that “now more than ever, the ability to speak our minds is crucial to the republic we cherish.”
Source: www.americanthinker.com — https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/08/free-the-canals-anmd-locks-of-lake-america/