What a touching gesture. We should remember Bethune better. Aside from his work in China, he was also on the front lines of the Spanish Civil War. In Canada, he was very vocal when it came to universal health care and defended it passionately. A man of many parts.

Hey Adam,

I'll argue for laying:

to lay: to put or place in a horizontal position or position of rest; set down: to lay a book on a desk.

Doesn't really matter I know, but it's valid (so is "lying", for that matter)

Apart from the English, I think that Leila is right when she says that we should remember Bethune better. We should remember many of our Canadian heroes better. Someone who had immigrated from Russia recently told me that the reason that Canada doesn't have a sense of history is not that we are young, but rather that we cover up our history far too quickly.

Perhaps it's because we'd like to think of ourselves as modest, or self-effacing, but I think we could all do a better job of being proud of the things we have acheived as a nation.

kanukodiak:

You can argue in favour of "laying" in the context in which Adam used it but you would still be wrong. In fact, you've proved yourself wrong with your own comment.

As you say, "to lay" is a verb meaning to put, to place, to set, etc. A transitive verb, it is used with an object as in "I saw someone laying a wreath before the Norman Bethune statue."

The wreath was not laying something on the ground. It lay on the ground when Adam saw it or, you may also say that it was lying on the ground when Adam saw it. Which brings me to the verb "to lie."

"To lie" requires no object. When speaking of things, it means, roughly speaking, to rest in a horizontal or flat position. For example, you can say "the wreath lies on the ground" or "the wreath is lying on the ground."

In any event, you need not take my word for it, consult a dictionary instead. Have a particular look at the usage note here: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lay?db=luna

But, above all, please don't perpetuate what I consider to be an abuse of the English language when you're not sure of what you're saying.

Use of the English language is widespread and that's great; but the pitfalls of its being so widespread is that fewer and fewer people speak it well, including those in the media.

Good point Maria. I've noticed that myself. Surprisingly this public space isn't used by citizens, or students for that matter, as anything other than a place to sit momentarily.

It's unfortunate that the only group I see using it are the LaRouchies. It could be the new Cabot Square, given that it's right on the Concordia SGW campus.

I just got back from Changchun where the Norman Bethune College of Medicine has an exact duplicate of the sculpture in front of one of the main buildings. The exact duplicate except that the pedestal is about twice as high!