Group raising funds to create monument to Rene Levesque

MONTREAL - A foundation is trying to raise money to create a memorial to Quebec nationalist leader Rene Levesque, in his hometown.

The group wants to create a museum and outdoor memorial to the Parti Quebecois founder in his hometown of New Carlisle near New Brunswick.

The Fondation de La-Maison-Rene-Levesque hopes to open the site next year, the 25th anniversary of the premier's death.

The fundraising campaign will be led by Alban D'Amours, president of the Mouvement Desjardins financial institution.

The group wants to create 20 granite monoliths that would each pay tribute to some aspect of Levesque's legacy -- including his days as a TV host, his nationalization of the hydro industry, agricultural zoning, no-fault car insurance and the landmark language law, Bill 101.

There is currently no official space commemorating the history-making premier in his own hometown.

There had been a movement afoot to turn his childhood home into a museum but the current owner refused to sell.

• 

  Quebec Premier Rene Levesque tries to hush supporters at a Parti Quebecois rally in Montreal, Nov.15, 1976, following his party's victory over the Liberal party of Robert Bourassa in the provincial election. It was a meaningless mid-November game whose only memorable play occurred in the stands, yet decades later it still illustrates more than any Stanley Cup-winning heroics what the Montreal Canadiens have meant to their city. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Files)