Businesses Create Merchandise After Trump Renames Lake Ontario
Canadian companies respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's renaming of Lake Ontario with themed products.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Businesses Create Merchandise After Trump Renames Lake Ontario
Photograph: CTV News (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Canadian businesses have developed merchandise in response to U.S. President Donald Trump renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America.
- Products include a "Lake Ontario bar" from Peace by Chocolate, "Lake Ontario coin purses" from Hides in Hand, and "Lake Ontario" sweatshirts from Province of Canada.
- The merchandise, often made with Canadian components and featuring Canadian themes, has proven popular with consumers.
- Province of Canada is donating 15 per cent of sales from its "Lake Ontario" sweatshirt to the Indigenous education charity Indspire.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 15 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 16 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
59/100
Hype
20/100
16 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
None of the 15 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
In response to U.S. President Donald Trump renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, several Canadian businesses have created products featuring the original name. Peace by Chocolate, a company founded by Syrian refugees, developed a "Lake Ontario bar" made with milk chocolate and maple cream, partially using Ontario ingredients and packaged in a Canadian flag wrapper. The bar quickly became one of the company's top five sellers. Hides in Hand, a leather goods company, began making and selling "Lake Ontario coin purses" from Canadian components, embroidered in Ontario. Province of Canada designed a grey fleece sweatshirt with "Lake Ontario" printed in navy, with 15 per cent of each purchase donated to Indspire, an Indigenous education charity. This sweatshirt sold out rapidly and is being reprinted.
Product Details and Sales
The "Lake Ontario bar" from Peace by Chocolate is made of 92 grams of milk chocolate and maple cream, with its packaging highlighting the body of water's name and Indigenous origins. The company has paused sales to the United States due to tariffs. Teresa Paul, owner of Hides in Hand, described her coin purses as a "pretty hot" commodity, with customers often buying multiple items. Her response to the name change was to create a practical item that expressed "Lake Ontario and Canadian pride." Province of Canada's "Lake Ontario" sweatshirt, which was part of a preorder, sold out quickly. The company is preparing new batches and colourways, with the sweatshirt remaining one of its most popular releases.
What the coverage left out
No right-rated outlet ran this story. The reports did not include any statements from U.S. President Donald Trump or his administration regarding the renaming of Lake Ontario or the subsequent merchandise.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 30 Sept 2026, 14:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
11 rated outlets
- Ten left-rated reports focused on the consumer response to merchandise created after U.S. President Donald Trump renamed Lake Ontario. These reports highlighted the "Lake Ontario bar" by Peace by Chocolate, detailing its ingredients and packaging. They also featured "Lake Ontario coin purses" from Hides in Hand and "Lake Ontario" sweatshirts from Province of Canada. The reports noted that these items were made with Canadian components and that Province of Canada was donating 15 per cent of sales to Indspire. The quick sell-out of the Province of Canada sweatshirt and the overall consumer interest in the merchandise were also points of emphasis.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- Four centre-rated reports focused on the consumer popularity of merchandise developed in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's renaming of Lake Ontario. These reports mentioned the "Lake Ontario bar" from Peace by Chocolate, the "Lake Ontario coin purses" from Hides in Hand, and the "Lake Ontario" sweatshirt from Province of Canada. The centre-rated reports noted that the merchandise was created after the renaming and that it proved to be a hit with consumers. The donation aspect of the Province of Canada sweatshirt to Indspire was also included.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Businesses Create Merchandise After Trump Renames Lake Ontario?
- Of the 15 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 73% are rated left, 27% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 16. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Businesses Create Merchandise After Trump Renames Lake Ontario left or right?
- The story itself is neither. What can be counted is who has covered it, and 73% of the 15 rated outlets on it are rated left — so far this is a story carried mostly by the left. Coverage is still arriving and that can change, which is why the figure is dated rather than fixed.
- Is the coverage of Businesses Create Merchandise After Trump Renames Lake Ontario biased?
- Businesses Create Merchandise After Trump Renames Lake Ontario is one event reported by 16 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Businesses Create Merchandise After Trump Renames Lake Ontario?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Businesses Create Merchandise After Trump Renames Lake Ontario?
- 16 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What is the "Lake Ontario bar"?
- The "Lake Ontario bar" is a chocolate product created by Peace by Chocolate after U.S. President Donald Trump renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America. It is made with milk chocolate and maple cream, partially using Ontario ingredients, and packaged in a Canadian flag wrapper.
- What other merchandise was created in response to the renaming?
- In addition to the "Lake Ontario bar," Hides in Hand created "Lake Ontario coin purses" made with Canadian components and embroidered in Ontario. Province of Canada designed a grey fleece sweatshirt with "Lake Ontario" printed on it, with a portion of sales going to Indspire.
- How popular has the merchandise been?
- The merchandise has proven to be a hit with consumers. The "Lake Ontario bar" became one of Peace by Chocolate's top five bestsellers. Hides in Hand's coin purses are described as a "hot" commodity, and Province of Canada's sweatshirt sold out quickly and is being reprinted.
Read it at the source
16 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
11- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens The Turtle Island News in a new tab)
The Turtle Island News — is The Turtle Island News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Lake Ontario: Derivatives Are in Demand (opens Radio-Canada in a new tab)
Radio-Canada — is Radio-Canada biased? Our profile of this outlet
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens Timmins Today in a new tab)
Timmins Today — is Timmins Today biased? Our profile of this outlet
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens ElliotLakeToday.com in a new tab)
ElliotLakeToday.com — is ElliotLakeToday.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens Bay Today in a new tab)
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens Sudbury in a new tab)
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens Elora Fergus Today in a new tab)
Elora Fergus Today — is Elora Fergus Today biased? Our profile of this outlet
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens Orillia Matters in a new tab)
Orillia Matters — is Orillia Matters biased? Our profile of this outlet
Show 3 more
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens SooToday.com in a new tab)
SooToday.com — is SooToday.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens Rocky Mountain Outlook in a new tab)
Rocky Mountain Outlook — is Rocky Mountain Outlook biased? Our profile of this outlet
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens The Record in a new tab)
The Record — is The Record biased? Our profile of this outlet
Centre
4- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens CP24 in a new tab)
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens CTV News in a new tab)
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens City News in a new tab)
- From chocolate to coin purses, Lake Ontario merchandise proves a hit with consumers (opens Winnipeg Free Press in a new tab)
Winnipeg Free Press — is Winnipeg Free Press biased? Our profile of this outlet
Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
1How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
