Jon Liedtke joins 610 CKTB’s Gene Valaitis for his regular weekly segment, Liedtke’s Got a Take!
When US politicians proposed renaming Lake Erie to “Lake Pennsylvania” and “Gulf of Cleveland,” radio host Gene Valaitis and commentator Jon Liedtke criticized the moves as political theater. Liedtke argued these cartographic stunts ignore Indigenous history and trade realities, humorously suggesting Canada counter-brand its border waters as “Lake Universal Healthcare.”
Transcript (Gemini Generated):
Gene Valaitis: … It’s time for Liedtke’s Got a Take. Good morning, Jon Liedtke.
Jon Liedtke: Good morning, Gene.
Gene Valaitis: Did you hear the Barenaked Ladies singing O Canada?
Jon Liedtke: Um, yeah. I—I just heard it there, and I had to listen in after I heard you on uh the first show there. And uh… wow! That was not great. If we’re in a trade war, you know, and escalating relations right now with the United States, we should be sending our best!
Gene Valaitis: Hey, well listen. Uh, translate the uh craziness happening across the uh border for us. Uh, we’ve got a border crisis, but it’s uh not in trade or tariffs, it’s cartography, Jon. Pennsylvania wants to rename Lake Erie, and now Cleveland is stepping in. What on Earth is going on over there?
Jon Liedtke: Pure political brain rot, Gene. I mean, American politicians have apparently solved all of the real problems that they’re dealing with. The Iran War is over, inflation is gone, oil is down… Oh no, no, that’s not. But they’re trying to treat the Great Lakes like it’s a minor league baseball stadium and they’re stealing naming rights to it like it’s second base. I mean, this is cartographic manifest destiny. They can’t pass a federal budget, but they’re going to pass a non-binding resolution to slap their name on international waters? It’s just pure political theater.
Gene Valaitis: Yeah. Okay, I’ve been reading about this. Let’s start off with Pennsylvania Republican Congressman David—rhymes with baloney—Maloney. Now, he—he wants to call it Lake Pennsylvania. But, um, you know, it is their—it is their only Great Lake, so I’ll—I’ll give them that. But if you look at the map, they barely even touch the water. So how does a state with 51 miles of shoreline justify trying to rename the entire lake?
Jon Liedtke: By bold-faced lying to the audience! I mean, this math is hysterical. Yeah, you said it: 51 miles of shoreline in Pennsylvania, and so they want to call it Lake Pennsylvania to get a jab in after Trump did uh, you know, Lake America. Ohio has now come out and said uh, Cleveland says they want to name it the Gulf of Cleveland. Um, and you know, it’s just the whole thing is like both parties showing up to a potluck with no food and saying, “Hey! It’s our party, thanks for coming. This is great.” I mean, this is just ultimate little brother energy, and it’s really sad to be coming from, you know, what was once such a great nation.
Gene Valaitis: Yeah. Well, uh, Cleveland City Council, as you mentioned, passed a resolution to call it the Gulf of Cleveland… just to block Pennsylvania claiming it’s uh their lake. So as a political watcher, you know, you do have to respect this level of trolling, don’t you?
Jon Liedtke: Yes and no. I mean, I’ll give Cleveland full marks. This is municipal pettiness at its absolute finest, sure. Um, when a council member says, “We can’t let the Pennsylvanians get a jump on us, it’s our lake,” this is prime Rust Belt swagger. And if Pennsylvania wants to play stupid map games, Cleveland’s going to join them and they’ll probably win. But, I mean, Gene, if we’re reclassifying water based on municipal or state egos, what’s to stop them from, I don’t know, renaming the parliament buildings to the Northern White House? It’s just—it’s all so very silly. So, I think that if we weren’t in a trade war that was harming our people on a regular basis right now, ongoing, this would be a lot funnier. You know, if this was like the Olympics and we were having a little bit of a trolling thing during a sport event, that’s one thing. But this is a very real trade war that is costing lots of Canadians their resources, their jobs, and quite frankly, a lot of people their sanity.
Gene Valaitis: Yeah. Well, this all started after President Trump renamed Lake Ontario, at least the American portion, to Lake America, and the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. Um, are we really at the point where politicians are using atlases as bargaining chips?
Jon Liedtke: That’s good. I mean, it’s—it’s real estate developer brain applied to international geography. I mean, this is—this is Trump slapping his name on buildings. It’s just changing things for the sake of being a troll and taking away the news cycle. He says, “If you don’t give me what I want on tariffs, I’m going to take your lake away.” First the Gulf of America, then Lake America, now Lake Erie. I mean, this is getting carved up like it’s Thanksgiving turkey. It’s absurd, it highlights the state of modern diplomacy unfortunately, and in this political climate, if you stand still long enough, a US congressman will try to rename you.
Gene Valaitis: The Gulf of Cleveland… I still can’t—I still can’t get over that one. Well listen, our Prime Minister firmly rejected these name changes, good for him, also pointing out that “Erie” comes from the Erie-honon Indigenous people. So when politicians pitch things like “Lake Pennsylvania” and “The Gulf of Cleveland,” is it just out of complete ignorance of local history, or is this a deliberate erasure for a cheap headline?
Jon Liedtke: Yeah, I think it is a deliberate erasure, and it is ignorance as well. It’s a bit of both. I mean, Erie isn’t just a random word, as you said. It comes from the Erie-honon Indigenous people who lived here centuries before Pennsylvania or Ohio even existed. And Prime Minister Carney was spot on, which is not something I say all the time. I mean, these names do have deep historical roots, quite frankly, on both sides of the border. And erasing Indigenous history just so a congressman can get a 10-second hit on local news, that’s worse than silly—it’s completely reckless for a number of reasons.
Gene Valaitis: Okay, if the Americans are officially rebranding their half of the Great Lakes, what—oh, I can’t wait to hear your answer to this. What is a Canadian counter-attack? What should—what should our next move be?
Jon Liedtke: Well, if we’re playing Risk right now, Gene, we need to play to win. I propose that we officially rebrand our half of the water to “Lake Universal Healthcare.” Every time they look at it, they’ll be reminded of what they’re missing out on. Or we could rename the Detroit River “Lake Gordie Howe Bridge,” just to remind them who actually built the newest connection. If they want a map war, Gene, we’re ready to go.
Gene Valaitis: Oh, a great take this Friday morning. Thank you, Jon Liedtke.
Jon Liedtke: Thank you, Gene.
Gene Valaitis: All right, Barenaked Ladies. Let’s uh check them out again from the Bills game from last night. Oh, this is just absolute madness.
This aired on 610 CKTB
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