“There’s nothing more powerful than a good story,” says Tyrion Lannister, saving his skin in the series finale of Game of Thrones with a speech about the power of stories to unite people. A bit self-serving, certainly, not just because it saved his life but more so because it was delivered by an actor, on behalf of writers and film producers, all of whom make their fortunes by telling stories. It was as if the brilliant actor Peter Dinklage looked into the camera and announced: “And now a message from George R.R. Martin and our friends at HBO.”

Still, none of that makes it any less true, and that’s something we need to remember more than ever in today’s toxic political environment. You can’t kill a story, and our stories define us, so let’s be thoughtful about the stories we are creating.

One had only to watch another piece of Sunday evening television for proof. 60 Minutes featured a segment on Toronto-based Rainbow Railroad, the organization that helps LGBTQ people in violently oppressive countries. These are people in mortal peril because of state-sanctioned, or state-perpetrated hateful violence against their own citizens.

The Rainbow Railroad helps them escape and start new lives in safe places. Seeing a gay man who feared for his life everyday in his home country walk down the street in Toronto’s Gay Village in awe that gay couples hold hands in public an no one notices or cares is like seeing one of those videos of small kids who get glasses or hearing aids and see their mom or hear her voice for the first time. It’s a joy to behold.

And so you have the story of Toronto the Good, a nickname that is sometimes used to poke fun at the earnestness and sincerity of today’s Toronto, and to ridicule its puritanical past. That’s a story that unites people, a story people will tell and retell, and ultimately a story that helps us define who we are.

Now, a final juxtaposition: the sour old man I met earlier Sunday at the dog-friendly beach in eastern Toronto. “I’ve lived in Canada 50 years but I won’t call myself a Canadian because of all these non-Europeans they’re letting in.”

Thank you. Please don’t call yourself Canadian, or Torontonian. Lazy, ignorant hatred has no home in Toronto the Good.