CBC Montreal year in review: Most memorable quotes of 2014
Calvillo retires, PKP runs for office, PK passes gas — a look back at the year in Quebec
Quebec had a good year for memorable quotes in 2014 — from PKP's cri de coeur over sovereignty, to Education Minister Yves Bolduc's assessment that no child would die if they didn't have access to new books, to Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre's friendly wager with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh over the outcome of the Montreal-Boston NHL playoff series.
Here are 15 of the most memorable quotes of 2014.
TH: Hey, RJ. Tom here. Listen, emergency. The town of Mégantic’s on fire. Do we have tankers in the yard anywhere?
RJ: Tankers?
TH: Tankers, any kind of tankers, of any kind?
RJ: No, what’s the problem? Is it with us?
TH: Everything is on fire: from the church all the way down to the Metro, from the river all the way to the railway tracks. From what I can see, RJ, the box cars have all burnt in the yard — the ties, everything. Whatever is in the yard, rolling stock, is now gone — completely.
— Train engineer Tom Harding and a dispatcher at the offices of Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, on July 6, 2013. The recordings of the calls between the engineer and dispatch were released in August 2014
Related story: Full transcript and audio of the Lac-Mégantic tapes
"My joining the Parti Québécois is an adhesion to my deepest and most cherished values, making Quebec a sovereign nation!"
— Pierre-Karl Péladeau announces his candidacy for the Parti Québécois in St-Jérôme on March 9, 2014
Related story: Pierre Karl Péladeau to run for PQ in Saint-Jérôme
"Oh captain, my captain, bon voyage."
— Yvan Cournoyer saying goodbye to Jean Béliveau on Dec. 10
Related story: Jean Béliveau funeral: Thousands bid Habs legend a final farewell
“We will provide Gravol.”
— Denis Coderre on whether Montreal would allow taxi drivers to charge a vomit fare, on Aug. 14, 2014
Related story: Montreal taxis may soon charge a 'vomit tax' for sick patrons
“Praying on all fours on a carpet, what is that all about?”
— Geneviève Caron at the National Assembly recounting an experience while visiting a mosque in Morocco, Jan. 17, 2014
“Who was under these disguises? Women? Men? I don’t know.”
— Claude Pineault at the National Assembly, Jan. 17, 2014
Related story: Pineault-Caron secular charter testimony goes viral on YouTube
"There is only one Anthony Calvillo. You're the all-time great... And I love you."
— Jim Popp, Alouettes general manager, during Calvillo's retirement announcement on Jan. 21, 2014
Related story: Montreal Alouettes retire Anthony Calvillo's No. 13 jersey
Coach to Eugenie: "How are you feeling?"
Bouchard: "I want to leave the court."
Coach: "I understand, I understand."
— Conversation between Eugenie Bouchard and her coach at Rogers Cup on Aug. 5, 2014
Related story: Rogers Cup shocker: Eugenie Bouchard ousted in Montreal
"It's going to be great. I can't wait for the crowd, the noise, the energy in the building. I can't wait to take that all away from them."
— P.K. Subban ahead of Game 7 in the Habs' playoff series against the Boston Bruins, on April 30, 2014
"I hope they continue doing that work. I know that with less staff it's more difficult, but I'm very surprised that CBC/Radio-Canada is cutting in their budgets."
— Lino Zambito to the Charbonneau Commission concerning budget cuts to CBC and Radio-Canada's investigative programs, which contributed to Zambito being charged with fraud, on April 24, 2014
"Bilingualism isn't a threat. Knowledge of English is indispensable."
— Philippe Couillard during an election debate in March 2014
Related story: 10 questions with Quebec Liberal Leader Philippe Couillard
"It was really the beginning of the loss of control.”
— Cocothon organizer Angella Pattas on Laval’s Easter egg hunt that went horribly wrong, as reported by CBC/Radio-Canada on April 22, 2014
Related story: Easter egg hunt in Laval goes horribly wrong
“Squirrel is not an odd thing. It might sound odd, but it’s not.”
— Chef David McMillan from Montreal’s Joe Beef on a provincial government pilot program that allowed a select number of restaurants to serve meals made from wild game, Feb. 24, 2014
Related story: Wild game meat to be served by Quebec restaurants
"The whole career of Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent represents the very opposite of the savage ideology that cost him his life … That ideology of hate is not Canadian, and it will never prevail here."
— Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the funeral of Patrice Vincent, who died in October in a targeted hit-and-run by a "radicalized" driver, on Nov. 1, 2014
"We have dehumanized death. We often just put death in terms of figures. That's what keeps me going, because behind everyone who has died in West Africa there's a story of a child, of a grandmother, of a villager and it's more than just figures. Death is more than just figures."
— Joanne Liu, Montreal doctor and international president of Doctors Without Borders, on Dec. 22, 2014
Related audio: Dr. Joanne Liu named Time Magazine's Person Of the Year for her work in Ebola-ravaged areas
“The night Lin Jun died, parts of many other people died in one way or another. His mother, his sister and me, his friends, [former boyfriend] Lin Feng. In one night, we lost a lifetime of hope, our futures, parts of our past.”
— Diran Lin via a translator at the Montreal courthouse on Dec. 23, after Luka Magnotta was found guilty of murdering Jun Lin
Honourable mentions
1. Montreal-Boston bet
"I like it. I’ll accept the bet."
— Boston Mayor Marty Walsh on the terms of a friendly wager with Denis Coderre about who would win in the second round of the 2014 playoffs (Boston lost), on May 1, 2014
2. Subban passes gas
"On game days, we eat a lot of different foods: Pasta, sweet potatoes. eggs in the morning, lots of protein. Then I have a coffee before the game, right? And you know what happens when you eat all that stuff [before] a coffee. Sometimes the stomach doesn't take it very well. So I try to hold it in until I get on the ice, and then I'll, in front of the net sometimes, I'll pass gas. That's the best way to annoy a player.”
— P.K. Subban on game strategy on Tout le monde en parle, Oct. 5, 2014
3. No books, no problem
"There is not one child who will die from this or who will not read, because there are already books [in libraries]."
— Yves Bolduc, speaking on cutting schools' book budgets on Aug. 22, 2014
4. Baseball fever
"God willing, my son will grow up in a place where there is prosperous baseball."
— Steven Glazer, Expos fan on the eve of the return of baseball to the Big O for exhibition games between Mets and Blue Jays in March 2014
5. Anglo angst
"For the first time since the '90s, I feel like I have to assert my anglophone-ness, my English-ness... You know, things have been dormant and so calm for so long that my brother and myself and my friends were comfortable speaking French."
— Montreal native Marc Stamos who, before the PQ was defeated in the provincial election, said he was considering a move out of the province, on Feb. 25, 2014