René Lévesque

Statue of the separatist leader in his home town.

Made to be put in front of the Assemblée-nationale in Québec,
it was rejected because it was seen as being too small in stature for such an important guy.

The fact that he was a very short man and that the statue was actually exactly his height seemed irrelevant - so poor old René was exiled to this ugly little playground in New Carlisle.

With the help of his pedestal he manages not to be too deeply covered in snow.

EDIT: it just clicked that the title of this should be the unofficial Québec anthem:
Mon pays
"My country isn't a country, it's winter
my garden isn't a garden, it's the plain
my road isn't a road, it's the snow
My country isn't a country, it's winter"



Background:
"On June 03, 1999, a monument in his honour was unveiled on boulevard René-Lévesque outside the Parliament Building in Quebec City. The statue is popular with tourists, who snuggle up to it, to have their pictures taken "avec René" (with René), despite repeated attempts by officials to keep people from touching the monument or getting too close to it. The statue had been the source of an improvised, comical and affectionately touching tribute to Lévesque. The fingers of his extended right hand are slightly parted, just enough so that tourists and the faithful could insert a cigarette, giving the statue an unusually realistic appearance.

This practice is less often seen now, however, as the statue was moved to New Carlisle and replaced by a similar, but bigger one. This change resulted from considerable controversy. Some believed that the life-sized statue was not appropriate for conveying his importance in the history of Quebec. Others noted that a trademark of Lévesque was his relative small stature."