In Honour of the Namesake

Sir Robert Laird Borden: 8th Prime Minister of Canada, founder of Borden House, and one hell of a guy. (Note: only one of the aforementioned facts about Robert Borden is unquestionably true. The other's are heresay and estimations.) 

His statue is on the west side of the West Block of Parliament, facing the Supreme Court of Canada. I passed by it on the way to meet Farish for dinner and thought I would snap a picture or two to commemorate the man who our old street was named after and who, very indirectly, is responsible for the glorious blog you are currently enjoying. So don't thank me: thank this cast-iron likeness of a Conservative Prime Minister ranked #7th overall of Canadian PM's up to Jean Chretien. 

Strangely enough, as if assuming they would remain bitter opponents well into the afterlife, the designers of Parliament Hill placed the statue of Wilfrid Laurier on the east side of the East Block facing the Chateau Laurier, the exact opposite positioning of Borden's statue. If Laurier was unable to forget his loss to Borden in the 1911 'Reciprocity' election, their statue's will guarantee their legendary animosity continues well into a time when people have stopped knowing who either Prime Minister was, what they did, how they matter, or why we should give a good God damn.  

To Borden -  je mais souviens, brother; even when no one else does.