CLASS WAR
The most significant thing is the government was forced to take off the table the punitive legislation that Mr. [George] Abbott and the premier consistently and constantly threatened to bring into being in July. That legislation would have stripped teachers of further collective agreement rights.
-BCTF president Susan Lambert on the compromise reached between the union and the government.
This was a negotiated agreement. It's also very bare. The employer definitely didn't get all that they were hoping to achieve. I think that's what negotiations do. We seemed to have compromised at the end and we tried to do the best we could with what we were given as a mandate and the situation.
-B.C. Public School Employers' Association chair Melanie Joy.
THE PROFESSIONALS
Both those guys are well known, great organizers, great communicators, know how to run a campaign. Calling either one of those guys an underdog is just not on.
-Paul Faoro, president of Local 15 of CUPE, when asked about George Heyman being an underdog in the NDP nomination race with Geoff Meggs in Vancouver-Fairview. Heyman won.
CHIEF STRATEGY
I said if the people don't know who I am by now, going around and talking to them isn't going to make any difference.
-Musqueam Indian Band chief-elect Wayne Sparrow, who said he spent more time hunting than campaigning to get elected in the Dec. 3 band election.
FRIENDS WITHOUT BENEFITS
For every decision you make, you will make one temporary friend and one permanent enemy.
-Richard Rosenthal, the chief civilian director of the fledgling Independent Investigations Office.
RED LIGHT
[Sex workers] have to be able to communicate and not be intimidated and frightened of the police to report stuff. Because right now it's like, why the hell should we report, nobody f---ing listens to us.
-Mona Woodward, executive director of the Aboriginal Front Door Society, on the Vancouver Police Department's draft guidelines on enforcement related to the sex trade.
STEADY TONIC
Once you get the craziness of alcohol out of their life, the alcohol seeking, the criminal behaviour that comes with that, underneath that you find really interesting people who, once stabilized, want to be part of our community.
-Dr. Jeff Turnbull, co-founder and medical director of the Ottawa Inner City Health Project, on the benefit of programs that provide regular doses of alcohol to severe alcoholics.
SEXUAL DEALING
If you're under 25, you don't own a car because it's an inconvenience and you care about the environment. And unlike the '50s, you do not need a car to find out where your friends are. The reality is, youth has replaced dependency on the automobile with the dependency on the iPhone. And unlike their moms and dads, youth does not require a car to get laid.
-Real estate marketer Bob Rennie speaking at the annual Urban Design Institute meeting in May.
SCOOTER TERROR
I'm getting more and more complaints about scooter users bombing up and down sidewalks. And people have also told me about getting their ankles clipped in Safeway and in malls.
-Vancouver Police Department Const. Heather Brown explains why she organized a scooter "roadeo" to teach users safety, as well as manners, while driving motorized scooters.
CIVIC SCOOP
By these small acts of consideration for others, we can solve this problem at a grassroots level, one turd at a time
-Eileen Mosca, founder of the Poop Angels Facebook page encouraging dog owners to pick up any dog poop they find.
COMMUNITY LOSSES
David was a really good man who had this eternal optimism and belief that we could all be better than ourselves, and that really drove him.
-Longtime neighbour and friend Mark Wirtz on the death of David Holtzman, a prominent member of the gay community.
He came from very poor beginnings and never enjoyed an excess of wealth. But seeing the assembly here, he was rich beyond what he could have imagined.
-Koos Dykstra speaking at a memorial for friend and legendary VPD cop Bernie "Whistling" Smith, who died of cancer in November. More than 800 people packed the Croatian Cultural Centre.
Jim's record has been a consistent and tireless one - activism for social justice, democracy, for the arts, for shaping an inclusive and sustainable city.
-Mayor Gregor Robertson on the death of former city councillor and activist Jim Green, who died in February.
SELF-STARTERS
Basically, we're not there to judge anybody. We have standards and guidelines but they're made up by us. We're not welfare, we're not the schools, we're a group of moms who have a passion to get things done. -Gina Hawkins, the driving force behind a group of single moms in the Downtown Eastside seeking to better their lives.
FINAL ACT
We were going to announce a theatre school and a bunch of other things in our 50th year. We had a really exciting plan.
-Jeff Schulz, chair of the board of governors for The Playhouse Theatre Company, which ceased operating in March.
WALKING DREAD
I originally wanted there to be zombie killing in the streets but, in getting my special events permit, I had to go through a police department representative and there was a concern - and a completely valid one - that people would be upset.
-Virtual Stage artistic director Andy Thompson, on staging a live action zombie show in downtown Vancouver.
WHY WE PLAY
We have to continuously remind ourselves it's about our student-athletes. They come first. Sometimes, quite honestly, our coaches forget that.
-Sue Keenan, former executive director of B.C. School Sports, addressing the animosity between public and private high school basketball coaches.
THE COMMITTED LIFE
I trained really hard. I did everything I was told to do by my coach. I trust him completely and it's really paid off. I just shut my mouth, do the workout, do what he tells me to do and everything will work out.
-Liz Gleadle, Olympian, Canadian record holder and the first Canadian to compete at the Summer Games in javelin since 1988.
