Rivers don't care about politics

Walking every day through the parks and over the local bridges that cross the Rideau river, I'm aware of the gradual changes in the ice's consistency. What's floating down the river now is much thinner ice than a week ago, so presumably some melt is happening further upstream.

Here's a picture of the ice approaching the Rideau Falls on its way past the buildings now used by the government's department of Foreign Affairs, with the Unity Tower in the background and the sun's reflection glinting in the foreground. Since September 2011, the place has officially been known as the John G. Deifenbaker Building, though most people still refer to it as 111, Sussex Drive, or the Old City Hall. On the other side of King Edward Avenue, but effectively next door to it, at 125 Sussex Drive, is the Lester B. Pearson building. Diefenbaker and Pearson were political rivals in the early '60s so this juxtaposition is presumably deliberate.

The river doesn't care, though!