The bicycle has a central role in our history. Taking a recognizably modern form in the 1880s, it predates the car in popularity, and unlike its cousin the horse and buggy it survived the age of the automobile. It gave new mobility to women and the working classes and was credited with helping bring about their political and social emancipation in the west in the early 20th century. It remains the staple transport system for huge numbers of people around the world.

In Vancouver in 2010, it was at the centre of the biggest debate about how this city organizes itself since the freeway battles of the 1970s. That's why it's the Courier's choice for Vancouver Newsmaker of the Year.

This was the year a green-inspired city council moved aggressively to implement designated bike lanes downtown, and to upgrade bike routes elsewhere with obstructions and lights. Public consultation was cheerfully bypassed, and the construction of routes was swift and to some critics pre-ordained. Battle lines for and against bike lanes formed just as quickly. Business groups predicted a financial disaster through lost customers who couldn't find parking. Bike advocates prophesied an urban nirvana and marked their victory with T-shirts that read “Bike lanes make me Hornby.” Bikes replaced off-leash dogs as the favourite argument of choice over lattes as people debated who “owns” the roads. Letters to the editor for and against bikes were numerous and bitter. Vancouverites made videos of traffic violations by both cars and bikes and posted them in online halls of shame. To get on a bike in traffic, or to go near a bike lane in a car, felt like combat. No one was a civilian on our roads in 2010.

The bicycle was also the salient symbol of a green-inspired city council with, pun intended, vision. The clarity of the Vision Vancouver-dominated council remains to be seen. Ten years from now, many of us could be cycling to our yoga classes on protected bike lanes past community organic gardens tended by residents of nearby laneway homes built from recyclable materials. Or we could be really pissed off because we can't drive downtown anymore. How voters, most of whom drive cars, respond to that scenario will be the story of 2011, an election year.

The Olympics

What about the Olympics, our Newsmaker choice for 2009? The Games were the Courier's runner-up choice this year by a hair. February was the city's biggest month since Expo and its best outdoor street party since the end of the Second World War. Vancouver successfully hosted a global collection of elite athletic competitions, made provision for legal dissent and was kissed by the sun.

It's also over. While the Games left legacies like recreational facilities and the Canada Line, and ugly hangovers like the Olympic Village disaster, it's a distant memory now, like a happy childhood too quickly forgotten. Attempts to reproduce its spirit have been feeble. The city and residents have bills to pay, and not enough money, and as we face service fee increases and the closure of public washrooms thanks to budget cuts, that medal podium we owned 10 months ago has been put in storage.

Online readers poll

For the past few weeks, we asked readers for their choice of Newsmaker in our online poll. The top vote getter was the Winter Olympics. Here’s how the results of our online poll broke down: Olympics (49 per cent), the bicycle (19 per cent), school closures (16 per cent), tower developments (8 per cent), the Wu beating (8 per cent).

Notable Vancouverites speak

As in past years, we asked a range of notable Vancouverites for their Newsmaker selection from our five candidates. Their choices and explanations follow, with our thanks for their participation.

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BIKES

In 2010 I lived through the Olympics and all I have to show for it is a T-shirt and a couple of pairs of mittens. The real legacy of 2010 is the city's willingness to embrace and reconceptualize itself. Vancouver’s message during the Games was: “If you come downtown, walk, ride or take the bus.” The success of Vancouver's Olympic transportation plan captured the imagination of the citizens to walk, take public transit and ride their bikes.

The Dunsmuir bike lane appeared and worked so well that it was hardly noticed, though it made a considerable difference to the safety of Vancouver cyclists. If the downtown is to expand and grow economically, it is not going to be from increased trips by privately owned single occupancy cars, but through bikes, public transportation and walking.

The Hornby Street bike lane will be another critical piece of the puzzle of the downtown transportation plan. With this bike lane, folks will finally feel safe to travel by bike from all points of the compass through the city.

In 2010 much of the civic discourse was dominated by envisioning what kind of city we wanted to be for the world. The end result of this dialogue was the realization that we can start to conceptualize a future where we collectively take responsibility to respond to our times. While the bike may not be the answer to all of the city's issues, it may provide a symbolic vehicle for citizens to conceptualize how the city can be what we want it to be: safe and equitable.

—Brent Granby, former West End Residents Association president and community activist

Who would have thought that bicycles could be such an issue in Vancouver? Even I, as an enthusiastic bicycle commuter, am left wondering why we are so desperate to become so green. Why do I feel these bicycle lanes are on our “behalf” and not “because” it is something we desperately want?

Cities are complicated and we do not want to make mistakes with ours. So we hire educated experts; highly paid municipal managers and a skilled workforce to deal with the day-to-day operation of important municipal services and planning. We also want our city to have amenities like parks, community centers, libraries and theatres.

Every year we elect a handful of common citizens to make sure that the public is being effectively served and that our needs are being met. We do not expect our councilors to be experts of course. But we do expect them to review everything that our public servants and private developers want to make sure it reflects what is best for our citizens.

They represent us and we elect them because we think they will be insightful, diligent and honest; like we are. But I worry that while the voters in Vancouver have been complacent about our expectations, things may have changed slightly. The councillor-led bicycle lane initiative might be an innocuous turning point. We may be witnessing some idealistic “social engineering” that could be good for us or it could be reason for concern because of where it might lead us. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

—Ed des Roches, Co-Chair Vancouver Fair Tax Coalition

As the City of Vancouver enters its 125th year, the bicycle is now an embedded part of the lives of Vancouverites. No longer simply a healthy, social-recreational activity, the bicycle is driving civic engagement, infrastructure development, and public dialogue.

Whether it is the collective "oh no" moment as commuters discover the Critical Mass is headed their way or our public and political debates about bike lane development or the taking of collective action in support of community and environmental health, the bicycle is now a part of the life of this great city. The bicycle touches both the tension points and values of Vancouverites: to live a healthy life, to support a healthy environment, and sustain a bright future for this one of a kind city making it the Newsmaker of the Year.

—Simon Adams, general manager of downtown Robert Lee YMCA and VP of the YMCA of Greater Vancouver

Although the Olympics copyrighted its name, I think the real newsmaker of Vancouver 2010 is the bicycle. Bikes have played a significant role culturally, physically and politically in this city during the past 12 months. The high-profile cyclists running Vancouver have promoted the vision of a city populated by fitness buffs, philosophically committed to reducing our collective carbon footprint by replacing cars with bikes.

Beyond this green image, where the rubber meets the road, the bicycle has actually changed the face of Vancouver. The Burrard Bridge and major arteries including Dunsmuir and Hornby have been radically altered to accommodate cyclists. Planters in the middle of the road, barricades and bike corrals changed traffic patterns and access to some businesses. As a daily year-round cyclist, I have experienced a higher level of driver hostility than ever before because of these radically imposed changes.

Politically, the bicycle has defined the Vision council. Voters knew that their goal was to increase the number of cyclists in Vancouver. What has become clear is that Vision believes the end justifies the means. Public consultation on bike routes has been sketchy, with council ‘consulting’ citizens until 10 p.m. then having city crews begin digging up Hornby Street only nine hours later.

This council has had to make hard financial choices, including devastating cuts to the Park Board, graffiti management, playground programs, and other services citizens rely on. Spending millions on cycling amenities in the face of these cuts demonstrates that for Vision the bicycle is primary in Vancouver in 2010.

— Eileen Mosca, community activist

OLYMPICS

We spent the money in the old economy when we had it while coming out of a down turn in the world economy. The typically reserved and somewhat passive-aggressive Canadian stood up and without any agenda celebrated being a Vancouverite, a British Columbian and being a Canadian. As we all watched Sydney Crosby place Canada’s mark on the world, we found a way to touch each other like never before. A mere three weeks earlier, I believe that 65 per cent of those watching that goal were not Olympic supporters or outwardly patriotic. Yet, we somehow found an inner strength that would be that big positive step forward that Canadians needed to reposition their mindset coming out of an economic down turn which was innocently found at the Olympics. It must also be noted that the 2010 Games were, without incident, largely due to the fact that [former] Prime Minister Chrétien forgot to follow the USA into Iraq.

—Bob Rennie, a real estate tycoon

Vancouver was definitely a busy newsmaker this year, but my pick for Vancouver’s top news story of 2010 would have to be the Winter (oh, who are we kidding) “summer” Olympics. Jubilation, death, sport, culture, rioting, teeming masses and unbridled patriotism, the Games held it all.

With one part party, an underlying threat of terrorism and a plethora of cultural flair previously unseen in our City, we opened our doors to the world and the world, ourselves included, ran amok in it. And somewhere in and amongst the too numerous to mention events, concerts, laser shows and celebrity, we managed to see some amazing athletes show us how it’s all done.

Then something magical happened along the way. We created a front-page patriotism that surprised both the world and ourselves. We discovered that our beautiful Canadian flag truly is a stunning fashion accessory, along with a simple pair of highly prized red wool mittens. And we managed to awaken this pride without Céline Dion in the opening, or any ceremonies for that matter.

Sure there were some sad moments and rough spots both literally and figuratively, but time always casts a rosy glow on memories and events. I like to remember that for a brief time we were all one, an international mass of people who wore ear-to-ear smiles, made new friends and cheered anything that moved. And, oh yeah, our men’s and women’s hockey teams kicked butt.

—Barb Snelgrove, a member of the city’s LGBTQ committee.

2010 will always be remembered as a year Vancouver shone, thanks to our staging the Olympic & Paralympic Games.

It could have been a less successful occasion, though. For months leading up to the Games, the majority of the public held the view it was an elites-only event. VANOC never endeared itself with its secretiveness, and the city imposed extraordinary gag laws to prevent ambush marketing.

For weeks citizens were warned to avoid the downtown core, and many locals happily took vacations to avoid the predicted urban chaos. Black-hooded thugs promised to face off with police in riot gear, and our ski venues scrambled to find snow after El Niño made an unwelcome visit.

Then something incredible happened—the people took back their city.

Masses queued up for hours for a glimpse of the Olympic medals, or for 30 seconds harnessed in the air flying across Robson Square. Thousands attended free concerts in Richmond, Surrey and Yaletown, and the ice rink beside the art gallery teemed with wannabe Elvis Stojkos.

Canadians from all across the country thrilled at the success of our athletes, and unmasked a patriotic fervour never seen here before. We finally proved to ourselves that many of us could gather downtown without trashing the place, at least as long as we involve families and close liquor stores by 5 p.m.

Ours was never a more vibrant and happy city than during those weeks. As one American journalist opined, “Vancouver, you were golden.”

Who would argue with that?

—Mike Klassen, Citycaucus blogger

The 2010 Olympic Winter Games were a huge success. They increased Vancouver's and B.C.'s profiles at home and on the international stage. [An estimated] 3.5 billion people—or more than half the world's population—viewed the Games on TV, the Internet or a mobile device, making it the most watched Winter Olympics in history. According to an Angus Reid Poll, 92 per cent of Canadians believe the 2010 Olympic Winter Games had a positive effect on the nation. How could it not? Our athletes won a record number of medals, and now hold the record for the most for any host nation for a Winter Olympic Games. The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games attracted over 250,000 people to B.C. in 2010 and added about $770 million to the provincial economy in the same year. This was a tremendous economic injection. Then there is also the legacy of infrastructure built for the Games that future generations will continue to enjoy for years to come, including a tripling in size of the convention centre, upgrades to the Sea-to-Sky highway connecting Vancouver to Whistler, and the Canada Line rapid transit route from downtown to the city's airport, the first such link of its kind in Canada."

—Senator Larry Campbell

The newsmaker of importance this year was the Olympics. In addition to celebrating the spirit of sports, the Olympics played a pivotal role in raising the profile of Vancouver as a world-class city. It was an opportunity to reaffirm the words on our licence plate that indeed, British Columbia is not only beautiful, but worth investing in. While people came out in the thousands to join in the celebrations amongst cherry blossoms brushing against the clear blue skies, the Olympics also illuminated a range of social, economic and political issues. The first issue that resonated with several Canadians was the enormous cost and taxpayer dollars used to finance the Games. The second was the newly built Olympic venues juxtaposed with the city’s failure to provide adequate living conditions for the homeless in the Downtown Eastside. Thirdly, the Olympics forged a strong sense of Canadian nationalism on the one hand, and also prompted serious debate about what constitutes “Canadian identity” on the other. The latter was sparked by the opening and closing ceremonies that some believed were exclusionary and failed to reflect Canada’s diversity. Lastly, the monopoly of corporations to define the Olympics was reaffirmed when volunteers had to cover up any competing logo with tape. While these issues are not always bright, the positive lay in the fact that the Olympics were saved by the huge participation of the public, volunteers and athletes and the real credit should have gone out to them. There is no question that the Olympics engaged people in their own unique way, stimulated debate, exposed “social scars” and in the words of sociological thinker, C. Wright Mills prompted a “shift from inward to outward thinking.”

—Indira Prahst, Langara College sociology instructor

The 2010 Winter Olympics was the newsmaker of the year. In fact, it may be argued that the Winter Olympics was the Newsmaker of the Decade.

Every year since the announcement of the winning bid in 2003, the anticipation of the games has dominated the headlines. In February 2010 all of the preparation and all of the hard work that finally came to fruition. An event, like nothing ever seen before in Vancouver captivated the attention of all of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and the world. The once in a lifetime celebration that was held in

Vancouver did not disappoint. The games themselves were enthralling, especially Canada's gold medal count and the final Mens' Hockey game.

But more importantly, we were able to experience everything else that goes into an Olympic Games. The companionship, the sharing of cultures and the excitement right across Metro Vancouver are just a few things that will always be remembered. As Vancouverites, we were able to share with the world a little bit of who we are, and on the flip side those who made their way to Vancouver for the Olympics were able to share a little bit of who they are with us. The Winter Games were truly an amazing experience that will be cherished forever. Its legacy still remains today and will remain for many years to come.

—Wade Grant, Musqueam councillor and member of the Vancouver Police Board

I'll have to choose the Olympics, not because of what by all reports was a successful staging of the games, but rather the Olympic Village fiasco. The city now owns nearly $1 billion of high end real estate it cannot sell or fully use for other purposes and faces major losses on this project - perhaps many hundreds of millions of dollars. This is significant as the city's entire annual operating budget is only $800 million. As Mayor Gregor Robertson rashly, and unnecessarily, decided to take political ownership of this boondoggle shortly after the 2008 election, local property taxes will now go toward subsidizing wealthy homeowners rather than, for example, building more homeless shelters. This development will continue to be an issue in this city long after the Olympic torch is passed to Sochi, Russia in 2014. That said, the Sydney Opera House was once considered a policy disaster, but is now a national treasure.

—Kennedy Stewart, associate professor, school of public policy at Simon Fraser University

While the Olympics should have been the Newsmaker of the Year, sadly, the Olympic Village (OV) is the bigger story. Eight months after the last Olympic Medals were handed out, 732 apartments in the Athlete's Village remain empty and the city faces potential losses of hundreds of millions of dollars. It's a sad irony for a Mayor and Council elected on a promise to end homelessness. Let's hope neither the Olympic Village, nor Homelessness is the 2011 Newsmaker of the Year!

—Michael Geller, architect/planner/developer and former NPA council candidate

Once Vancouver was chosen to host the event, it became a political issue with many environmental and Aboriginal groups. The taxpayers are still being held accountable for this event and paying for a city with a huge deficit, while homeless shelters and drop-in centres are closing because the City of Vancouver does not have the money.

We lost our sacred eagle territory of Eagle Ridge Bluff. One Elder, Harriet Nahanee, fought hard to ensure this sacred bird existence was not threatened. Her long hard fight essentially led to her death. This was after she was arrested and suffered health issues that ultimately led to death. She is a hero and her fight for justice is part of the tainted legacy of the Olympics. She will be forever remembered as we speak about the Olympics.

And what of the vulnerable women of the Downtown Eastside and the influx of people from around the world who would be using the sex trade? What kind of protection and "special" services would be available for them? There was none and it was put on high priority for the community of the Downtown Eastside to organize and facilitate the increase in violence and crime in this neighborhood. Many drop-in centres like the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre and Aboriginal Front Door Society worked within a group context to assist women and residents of the Downtown Eastside to have a safety plan and cards with emergency numbers to call in the event they were assaulted or attacked.

There are many people who have different views of positive experiences and I do not mean to take away from their joy but open their eyes to a different lens. This community is still experiencing funding cuts that will continue to impact people who live here.

—Mona Woodward, executive director of the Aboriginal Front Door Society and cousin to Ashley Machiskinic, who died in September after falling from a hotel window in the Downtown Eastside.

SCHOOL CLOSURES

We are already seeing a vast disruption of our school system through the Vancouver School Board's erratic, short-sighted handling of the seismic upgrading of historic schools. The potential closure of other schools threatens even further a number of community landmarks. Community space is desperately required throughout the city—including improved daycare and other needs. Why are we not looking for opportunities to use our neighbourhood schools in a way that more broadly benefits the community, and also looks forward to the future growth of our city.

—Donald Luxton, heritage advocate

Since there has been a recognition that public education, if it is comprehensive, inclusive, accessible, excellent, and meets the needs of all students, will have an increasing cost over time, there have been continuing cuts to the funding and services that support achieving these goals.

The erosion of comprehensive, accessible excellence, the requirements that attract and retain students to public education, in their local schools, has been a factor contributing to decreased enrollment. The punishment for the current fiscal shortfall, the result of an imperfect funding formula and declining enrollment, is being meted out to those students and families who continue to support their neighbourhood schools.

If education had the priority it deserves the Newsmaker item of the year would not be school closures. The news of the year would, and should be; We have a fully funded public education system, with acknowledged excellence district -wide, and all of our schools are filled to capacity.”

—Gwen Giesbrecht, District Parent Advisory Council chairwoman

WU BEATING

We here at Pivot Legal Society think the newsmaker of the year should go to the unfortunate Mr. Wu, who was on the wrong end of a police error when they attended his house in response to a domestic dispute complaint coming from his downstairs neighbour. Mr. Wu’s story is sadly one that has played out in many forms over the last few years, and we think it captured the attention of Vancouverites because it so clearly and simply exposed the flaws of our police complaints system.

At the end of the day we are left wondering how the officers who were assigned to investigate Mr. Wu’s complaint could have possibly come to the conclusion there was nothing was wrong with the way VPD officers responded. How could plain clothed police officers attend the wrong residence, arrest the wrong person, cause him serious physical harm, and still make no mistakes? Mr. Wu’s case clearly shows us the need for a civilian body to investigate police complaints, staffed by real independent civilians (not just ex-cops), and hopefully Mr. Wu’s story will not be forgotten in 2011 when Attorney General Mike De Jong should be held accountable for his promise to make that independent body a reality.

Kudos to OPCC head Stan Lowe for calling a public hearing into the events, but there are many stories like Mr. Wu’s that weren’t reported in the papers, and we would be naïve to think the publicity of Mr. Wu’s case didn’t effect Mr. Lowe’s decision. At the end of the day Vancouverites shouldn’t have to put their bloodied face on the front pages of the papers just to get a fair hearing.

—Douglas King, Pivot Legal Society. He leads Pivot’s campaign on policing.

I would have picked four out of the five. But if I have to pick one, I will pick the Yao Wei Wu beating. Not because I happen to be a spokesperson for the Concerned Group on Wu's beating, but because according to the fictional rationalization provided by Delta Police Department which investigated the said police brutality, the Wu beating is rationalized and can now happen to anyone. All the cops need are "acting in good faith" (meaning they have no

idea who they were beating but did it just for good measures or fun...),"reasonable ground an assault had occurred or may still be occurring” (meaning the altered state of mind after one watched too many Rambo

movies),"reasonable grounds to believe Mr. Wu is a suspect in an assault" (a family man would never wake up with only T shirt and shorts on to open his door to two plain clothes thugs),"use reasonable force" (meaning anything

short of terminating someone) and "a language barrier existed" (it is too bad aliens like Mr. Wu, Mr. Khan, Frank Paul, Robert Dziekanski don't understand my language well!).What is scary is the growing culture of violence and the blatant arrogance of fabricating stories among those officers who vowed to respect the law. So what is endangered is not just our species but the separation of power that protects our very democracy.

—Bill Chu of Chinese Christians in Action and anti-gambling crusader

While the Vancouver Police Department has made a number of progressive strides under Chief Const. Jim Chu, the beating of Yao Wei Wu last January showed just how irresponsible and unaccountable policing remains in this city and province.

Each stage of the Wu case was fraught with systemic problems. It started with the initial “mistaken identity” that resulted in the brutal beating of an East Vancouver Asian man, and was followed by a VPD press release that claimed Wu resisted arrest before an investigation had even occurred.

Chief Chu may have apologized and ordered an investigation, but he did Wu no justice by assigning the case to the Delta police force. Although many other provinces have stopped allowing the police to investigate themselves, for obvious reasons of bias, it is a practice that continues in British Columbia.

Wu claims the Delta Police Department didn’t interview material witnesses or gather physical evidence. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t recommend any charges against the two offending officers. While B.C.’s Police Complaint Commissioner has ordered a public hearing into the case, there is little likelihood charges will ever be laid.

Wu was no criminal. He was simply at the right place (his home) at the wrong time. For that he received a swollen face from two police officers and a slap to the face by the police system. There may have been other new stories that stole the spotlight in 2010, but the Wu beating was where Vancouverites should have been shining their lights.

—Sean Condon, editor-in-chief, Megaphone