If you're a resident of Ontario who has managed to evade seeing a photo or video of someone allegedly relieving themselves in a public place, consider yourself lucky, because social media has been full of imagery — whether real or fake — of people purportedly preparing to poop.

The sh**storm started on Monday, when someone on X shared what they claimed was a bonafide picture of a man bending over to defecate in the middle of a Brampton gas station parking lot.

With nearly 10 million views at the time of publication, the post instigated heated discourse about all sorts of things, from Canadian society's perceived loss of social etiquette and values, to AI and racism.

Many believed the capture to be true, while others claimed it was a clearly Photoshopped image, both sides using it to bolster their own political convictions.

Huge debate ensues over alleged photo of someone pooping in Ontario parking lothttps://t.co/hu0yk6V8kr

— blogTO (@blogTO) July 30, 2024

In the wake, former Brampton East MP Raj Grewal, who said he owned the property in question, insisted that the image was phony. But others continued to argue otherwise, asserting that the image stood up to intense scrutiny and AI-detecting software.

A day later, alleged video evidence of the offence was leaked to support its veracity, which garnered a million more views and thousands more comments and takes, none of them good. At the same time, other clips appeared to debunk the whole thing as AI.

In a subsequent response, Grewal released security camera footage of the subject walking out of the gas station Tim Hortons, which many said proved absolutely nothing, though it did show he was wearing long pants rather than the shorts he appeared to be wearing in the original image.

The elder man was not defecating in the open. He's clearly wearing pants, not shorts - contrary to the photo that was initially shared. The racism and hate that's been spread about this incident is disappointing and alarming.

Out of respect for the senior citizen involved we… pic.twitter.com/zwzJ0vH4Q6

— Raj Grewal (@RajLiberal) July 31, 2024

Some then argued that the CCTV clip bore a different date than the day the alleged act took place, that it looked to show a completely different person, or had other criticisms to refute Grewal's stance on the matter.

As the saga drags on, people have, for whatever reason, continued trying to conduct their own investigations into the incident, which has now brought multiple other depictions of people reportedly going to the washroom in public places into the open.

Some are finding details of some of these clips highly suspect, not knowing what to believe about any of the content that has emerged thus far.

Video Surfaces Of Trucker Pooping At The Back Of His Trailer
📍Petro Canada - Thunder Bay, ON
.#poop #thunderbay #washroom #trucking #trucker #nasty pic.twitter.com/Zl194X8cev

— 401_da_sarpanch (@401_da_sarpanch) August 1, 2024

The debate erupted just days after the Mayor of Wasaga Beach was forced to speak out against "unverified" claims of visitors burying their feces in the sand at the public attraction.

While the Wasaga pooping saga briefly took over local TikTok in July, this latest excrement episode has been largely reserved to X. (There was also the Reddit discussion about tenants throwing poo from the balconies of a Toronto apartment building).

We can't wait to see what users on Instagram and the rest of the social media platforms share to add to this (potentially literally) viral subject.