Matthew Lau: Turns out getting things’ names right isn’t that hard

Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.HomeFP CommentMatthew Lau: Turns out getting things’ names right isn’t that hardWhether it's Lake Ontario, who's a woman, putting names on streets or what constitutes terrorism, it's simpler than people are making itLast updated 26 minutes ago U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as 'Lake America' amid an ongoing trade war between the U.S. and Canada. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images filesWhen it comes to the names and definitions of things that should really be quite simple, the White House, woke Canadian urbanites with too much time on their hands, the Women’s National Basketball Association and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation have all been, if not exhibiting significant confusion themselves, certainly spreading lots of it around.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLESCreate an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountDonald Trump, unhappy with the Ontario government, has decided to call Lake Ontario “Lake America” instead. He follows in the footsteps of woke Toronto councillors, bureaucrats and activists who, unhappy with 18th-century British politician Henry Dundas and finding they had nothing better to do, decided to rename Yonge-Dundas Square as “Sankofa Square.” Also of Vancouver councillors who unaccountably decided it was a good idea to give certain streets new names that can neither be pronounced nor spelled with Latin letters.None of this makes any sense. Trump trying to call Lake Ontario “Lake America” is designed to antagonize Canadians. But to be effective, a jab must be sharp or witty. Trump’s renaming is neither, just plain dumb: the name Lake Ontario, more than 400 years old, predates the establishment of both the province of Ontario and the United States, and there are a dozen U.S. cities, towns, townships or counties named Ontario.Renaming efforts in Toronto and Vancouver were similarly senseless. The decision to rename Yonge-Dundas Square followed a council vote after years of “work” and consultation by municipal staff, including at the “Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit.” Ironically, Henry Dundas was an opponent of slavery who appointed John Graves Simcoe — responsible for introducing the first legislation in the British empire to limit slavery — as Upper Canada’s first lieutenant-governor. Meanwhile, the word “Sankofa” is from the Akan language and, as Toronto-based lawyer Greg Piasetzki has written, “The Akan peoples of West Africa were notorious slave traders. During the transatlantic slave trade, the Akan captured, enslaved, and sold one to two million fellow Africans into slavery.”Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe City of Vancouver’s renaming of streets, such as of Trutch Street to “šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmasəm Street,” is even worse. Street names and road signs only a handful of people can read create confusion for residents, commuters, delivery drivers and everyone else. Such confusion may even have deadly consequences: if you live on the street and need to call an ambulance or other emergency services, good luck trying to tell them where you are.In addition to naming confusion, in some quarters there is significant confusion about definitions. Last week, Canada’s state broadcaster made headlines because the senior director of journalistic standards and public trust at CBC News sent a memo to reporters and editors advising “Do not refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks.” The CBC’s policy is also not to refer to Hamas, which carried out the October 7 terrorist attacks against Israel, as terrorists. A reasonable person might wonder: if the 9/11 and October 7 attacks do not fall under the definition of terrorism, what exactly must someone do for CBC to consider him a terrorist? (Sensibly, the CBC has since reversed its prohibition on calling 9/11 a terrorist attack.)If confusion from taxpayer-funded journalists over whether 9/11 is a terrorist attack is bad, perhaps even worse is the Women’s National Basketball Association’s confusion over the definition of “women.” In recent weeks there has been a media firestorm around whether its stipulation that “only players who are women are eligible to play” includes biological men who identify as women.This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.What is the definition of a woman? The WNBA, evidently confused by the question, struck a task force of team presidents and general managers to examine it. They were unable to reach a conclusion. Philosopher David Berlinski has noted that because no one requires instructions before dividing a group into the two sexes, and because no more can human beings change their sex than can they change their species, “every culture draws a clear and inviolable distinction between men and women” — though now a sports association with the word “women” in its name seems to be an exception.Reality is that a woman is an adult female human being, the lake between the province of Ontario and state of New York is Lake Ontario, the square at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas in Toronto should be referred to as Yonge-Dundas Square, street names in Vancouver should use the Latin alphabet, and Hamas and the perpetrators of 9/11 are terrorists. There is nothing complicated here.Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. 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