Debout is a monument to Félix Leclerc (1914–88) which was installed in Parc La Fontaine in 1990 after a huge campaign by the Mouvement national des Québécois in association with the sculptor Roger Langevin. In front of the statue is a flower bed with a metal ring around the edge bearing a few of Leclerc's words:
'NOUS SOMMES DES QUÉBÉCOIS ISSUS DE LA VIEILLE FRANCE MAÎTRES CHEZ NOUS ET LOIN DES ROIS APRÈS TROIS SIÈCLES DE PATIENCE NOUS SOMMES QUÉBÉCOIS DEPUIS ET POUR DES SIÈCLES...'
An interpretation panel states that Leclerc is considered to be the father of the chanson québécoise, and mentions his 'Moi mes souliers', 'Le p'tit bonheur' and 'L'Hymne au printemps' as celebrating the imagination of childhood, nature, the countryside, love and the world of humble people remaining close to their pioneering origins. It quotes a few words of his which display his love for his country:
'In certain countries there are vines, in others silk; here we have words. We make songs as others make guns, we could make a country with words.'
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