Nova Scotia Power has successfully corrected an error on its outage map, which previously mislabeled Lake Ontario as Lake America. This correction comes after a recent executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump led to confusion over the lake’s name.
The issue of Lake Ontario’s mislabeling was widespread across various organizations in Canada. Jacqueline Foster, a senior communications adviser at Nova Scotia Power, acknowledged the error, attributing it to a third-party mapping service. The utility promptly resolved the issue after initially identifying it.
The outage map is powered by Google, which recently updated the lake’s name to Lake America in the United States based on official government sources. While Google Maps users in Canada will continue to see the original name, individuals outside Canada and the U.S. will see both names.
Peter Johnson, an associate professor of geography and environmental management at the University of Waterloo, explained that organizations subscribing to Google Maps API receive updated data directly from Google servers. This data is then integrated into third-party maps that utilize the API.
Johnson suggested utilizing alternative map APIs, such as the one offered by ESRI, to avoid such discrepancies. New Brunswick Power and Maritime Electric in P.E.I. currently use ESRI’s API and display Lake Ontario with the correct name.
Overall, the mislabeling of Lake Ontario on the outage map was attributed to routine processes of scaling up small features to larger entities, as described by Johnson. This incident highlights the importance of accurate data integration and mapping services to ensure correct information dissemination.
