A city council in Canada is taking a page from the U.S. playbook and plans to rename its street honoring Donald Trump – and to troll him with its new name.
The Ottawa City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to rename Trump Avenue, a residential street in its Central Park neighborhood. It was named after Trump approximately 25 years ago and is one of many references the street names make to New York City. Other streets include names like “Staten Way,” “Madison Park” and “Gotham Private.”
The new street names the council is considering reportedly include things like “Obama Avenue” and “TACO Avenue,” CNN reports.
Obama was the president before Trump in 2016 and has frequently been a target of Trump criticism. “TACO” is a moniker reportedly given by Wall Street to Trump, meaning “Trump Always Chickens Out” for his frequent changing of policy.
Ottawa City Councilor Tim Tierney told CNN that other possible names for the Trump Avenue include; Obama Avenue, Ontario Avenue, Canada Avenue, Beaver Avenue, Gulf of Mexico Avenue, Canada Goose Avenue, Pelosi Avenue, Taco Avenue, and Rosie O’Donnell Avenue, referencing Trump’s long-time public disdain for the comedian.
open image in gallery
open image in galleryTensions are high between the U.S. and Canada following Trump’s decision to levy a 50 percent tariff on Canadian steel, cars, and auto parts. Representatives from both nations tried to work out a deal to ease those tensions but negotiations fell apart. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada would impose “dollar for dollar” retaliatory tariffs on hundreds of American goods beginning on September 8. He also announced that Canada has been exploring more robust trading opportunities with partners in Europe.
This week, Trump announced he’d signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, even though the Great Lake received its name long before Canada was a country.
Tierney said other places in Canada have the word “Trump” in their names that residents have suggested renaming, but he noted that the only one actually named after the president is the street in Ottawa.
He also said that the city tried to change the street name again in 2021 but left the decision up to the residents. He said of the 62 residents, 21 voted yes, 21 voted no, and 2 didn’t vote. The city councilor noted that the “no” votes weren’t necessarily votes supporting the name as much as residents who didn’t want to go through the hassle of changing their addresses.
Tierney said renaming the street, while it will be funny, shouldn’t distract from the real issues driving a wedge between the U.S. and Canada.
open image in gallery“Right now, I think our focus has to remain on trade and tariffs, something that this is just nothing more than a distraction from,” he told the outlet. “We see the president doing something the same and it’s tired. Stop with the lame name game and let’s get back to the table.”
His sentiments echo those of the nation’s Minister of Industry, Mélanie Joly, who dismissed Trump’s “shenanigans” and said Canada would focus on bolstering trade partners.
“While all of these shenanigans are happening, we’ll just be smart and we’ll be strategic and we’ll fight back,” Joly said in a press statement.
Trump has been publicly complaining about Canada for days, calling it the “worst country to deal with” and accusing it of taking advantage of its trade relationship with the U.S.
When he was asked what message he wanted to send by renaming Lake Ontario, he said “no message,” before launching into a rant about alleged Canadian trade exploitation.
“Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade,” he said. “They don’t pay for anything, and they want to be treated like a state, but they’re not a state.”
Both Carney and New York Governor Kathy Hochul have said they do not plan to recognize Trump’s name change for Lake Ontario. However, federal agencies will have to abide by the executive order.