Nova Scotia Power has successfully rectified its outage map, with Lake Ontario now accurately labeled following an earlier error that displayed it as Lake America. This incident mirrors challenges faced by various Canadian entities in renaming Lake Ontario after a recent directive from U.S. President Donald Trump altered the lake’s name.
Several organizations in Canada encountered the same issue before Nova Scotia Power corrected the label, according to Jacqueline Foster, the utility’s senior communications adviser. She explained that the mislabeling of Lake Ontario on their outage map was attributed to a third-party mapping service.
The utility’s map is operated by Google, which recently renamed the lake to Lake America in compliance with official government sources in the United States. U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum hinted that Apple Maps might soon follow suit. Google stated that users in Canada will see the original name, while those outside Canada or the U.S. will view both names.
Peter Johnson, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo, highlighted that organizations utilizing Google Maps’ application programming interface (API) receive updated name changes as per the map. The API retrieves specific data from Google servers, updating names accordingly in third-party maps that utilize the API.
Johnson emphasized the routine process of scaling up small features to large features. He suggested exploring alternative map APIs, like ESRI’s, which New Brunswick Power and Maritime Electric on P.E.I. currently utilize to accurately list Lake Ontario.
In summary, the adjustment in Lake Ontario’s name reflects routine processes in mapping services, underscoring the importance of accurate data translation across various platforms.
