For generations, the story Canada told about itself was simple: It's the Great White North. A place of epic winters and hardy people who could handle the cold. But a viral TikTok is getting a lot of attention for suggesting the story is not just outdated — it's dangerous.

In the video, creator Mathieu Murphy-Perron (@matnessmtl) takes aim at the old myth, pointing out that while it's still used as an excuse to avoid building things like bike lanes, the reality has flipped.

"Winter is not what we need to be worried about," he says bluntly. "Summer is what we need to be worried about."

@matnessmtl Climate change isn't just reshaping our weather, it's rewriting the stories we tell about ourselves. Canada's legendary winters are not only softening, but now compete with deadly summer heatwaves and wildfires. The old narratives no longer hold, new extremes demand new myths. #CanadaTikTok #ClimateChange #Montreal #MtlTikTok #Heatwave #Wildfire ♬ original sound - Mathieu Murphy-Perron

His caption gets right to the point: "The old narratives no longer hold, new extremes demand new myths." And he's not just guessing. The numbers are startling. A fact sheet from the Canadian Climate Institute confirms Canada is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, and its Arctic is warming nearly four times as quickly. Globally, 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded.

This weather whiplash isn't just an inconvenience; it's a real threat to communities. It fuels longer, more destructive wildfire seasons, with one expert noting that lightning-sparked fires are on the rise and account for most of the land burned. It also brings intense droughts, which other experts are urging us to treat as a predictable risk, not a surprise crisis.

So why do the old myths stick around? For years, the science has been overwhelmingly clear — with some analyses of climate studies showing over 99% agreement — that our planet is overheating because of human activity. But it's often easier to believe a comfortable story than to face a hard truth, even when the evidence is staring us in the face. Educating yourself and others about these issues is the first step.

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The comments on the video show he's not alone in feeling the change.

"I walk to work. Summers are significantly more insufferable now," one user wrote. "In winter, I have all the needed gear. When it gets warmer, there's so much you can do to be comfortable outside."

Another commenter added: "We used to have 1 or 2 heatwaves per summer; now the whole summer is a heatwave with brief periods of 23-degree weather [73.4 degrees Fahrenheit]."

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