Past & Future Looking in Opposite Directions

Sir Galahad Statue, Wellington Street, in front of Parliament.
Alright, I know, this picture was overexposed. But I thought the juxtaposition was interesting nevertheless...

Here is the story of that statue:

"There is one statue on Parliament Hill that does not portray a famous politician or royal personnage. It is the figure of Galahad, the Knight of the Round Table whose "strength was the strength of ten," in Tennyson's words, "because his heart was pure." The statue was placed at the centre of the nation's capital by a future prime minister in tribute to a dear friend.

William Lyon Mackenzie King came to Ottawa in 1900 as Deputy Minister in the Department of Labour. There he became reacquainted with a classmate from the University of Toronto, Henry Albert Harper. The two shared rooms, and in the evenings they discussed politics, social reform, and literature. They shared a particular passion for Tennyson's epic poem of King Arthur and his knights, The Idylls of the King. Harper even had a reproduction of Watts' famous painting of Galahad over his desk.

In the late afternoon of December 6, 1901, while King was away on government business in British Columbia, Harper and three other stylish young people skated onto the Ottawa River, apparently trying to catch up with Lord Minto's party, which had left an hour earlier. As night fell, conditions became dangerous. Suddenly they hit thin ice, and Bessie Blair, daughter of the Minister of Railways and Canals, pitched into open water. The others managed to reach solid ice, but try as they might, the ice cracked beneath them each time they tried to rescue Bessie. Finally, over the anguished pleas of the others not to risk his life, Harper dove into the river. His last words were, "What else can I do?" Their bodies were not recovered until the next morning.

Within days, a parliamentary committee was formed to honour Henry Albert Harper, with Mackenzie King as a member. It was King who argued against a portrait statue and for a likeness of the noble Galahad, a more fitting memorial to his heroic friend."

http://www.7thfloormedia.com/resources/canadiana/library/ottawa.html