OTTAWA - A fundraising campaign has been launched to erect a bronze sculpture of Canadian jazz legend Oscar Peterson in Ottawa.
Once created by sculptor Ruth Abernathy, the statue will be erected outside the National Arts Centre, near Parliament Hill. The fundraising goal is $210,000 and donors include Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal MP Bob Rae.
Harper says Peterson is a success story par excellence and became a legend that has inspired countless artists around the world.
Rae says he hopes jazz fans and Canadians across the country contribute to "this wonderful tribute to one of our national treasures."
Peterson, who died in 2007 at the age of 82, grew up in a working-class district of Montreal and became a jazz legend with more than 200 albums to his credit.