Fred Bass
Encyclopedia
Fred Bass is a former city councillor
, environmentalist
and a preventive medicine
physician
in Vancouver
, Canada
.
, attended Antioch College
, Case-Western Reserve Medical School
, Harvard,and Johns Hopkins
. He served as a Preventive Medicine Officer in the US Army's 7th Infantry Division in Korea
and Fort Monmouth
, New Jersey
. After his military service, he was a Tuberculosis
Control Officer for the New Jersey Department of Health and Unit Medical Health Officer. He earned a Master's degree
in epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health
and a Doctor of Science at Johns Hopkins, writing a thesis on Medical Care Use Attributable to Cigarette Smoking. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania
and came to the Vancouver Health Department in 1975. There, in 1982, he became Director of Health Promotion.
In 1989, he founded the BC Doctors Stop-Smoking Program to help doctors help their patients stop smoking. He helped to form the Society for Clinical Preventive Care in 1997, which has a mission to implement proven clinical preventive measures. In 2001 he was awarded a Senior (life) Membership in the Canadian Medical Association
for his extensive work in tobacco control. He continues in 2007 to serve as the Medical Director of the Society for Clinical Preventive Health Care.
under the leadership of Paul Watson
but was defeated by a wide margin. However, the increased share of the vote won by the Greens and of a new populist party called VOICE resulted in a total rout for the city's leftist forces in which every single candidate who was not a member of the Non-Partisan Association
was defeated. Despite being the Greens' second-best vote-getter in the 1996 election (second only to the party's provincial leader Stuart Parker
), Bass was defeated when he sought renomination by the Greens in 1999. With the support of the Greens' executive and provincial leadership, he sought and won the nomination of the Coalition of Progressive Electors
(COPE), the party with which the Greens had just inked a coalition agreement.
.
In 2003-2005, three COPE Councillors and the Mayor split from the party to form Vision Vancouver
. Bass and councillors Tim Louis
, David Cadman
, Anne Roberts
and Ellen Woodsworth
remained in COPE. Bass was not re-elected in the 2005 election, finishing 12th overall with 48,248 votes.
Bass introduced a controversial motion in 2005 to widen the sidewalks on the Burrard Bridge to encourage cyclists and pedestrians, but first do a minimal-cost trial of using one lane in each direction for bicycles, reserving the existing sidewalk for pedestrians, despite the failure of a similar experiment in 1996. The sidewalk-widening was slated to cost $13 million if the $2 million trial failed. Some cyclists applauded the move, though other users of the current bridge sidewalks questioned whether any changes were necessary. Concerns about motorist rage did not deter Bass, who stated "Motorists called for my head long ago and my head is still on my neck." Heritage advocates strongly supported the bicycle trial, since the sidewalk-widening would impair the heritage value of this landmark, art deco bridge. Bass was the Council lead on the Vancouver Area Transit Plan, which planned six new bus routes and a number of transit-friendly changes.
Vancouver City Council
Vancouver City Council is the governing body of the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.The city is governed by the Vancouver Charter, not the Community Charter and the Local Government Act which are used for other municipal governments...
, environmentalist
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
and a preventive medicine
Preventive medicine
Preventive medicine or preventive care refers to measures taken to prevent diseases, rather than curing them or treating their symptoms...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Background
Bass was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, attended Antioch College
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
, Case-Western Reserve Medical School
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
, Harvard,and Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins was a wealthy American entrepreneur, philanthropist and abolitionist of 19th-century Baltimore, Maryland, now most noted for his philanthropic creation of the institutions that bear his name, namely the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the Johns Hopkins University and its associated...
. He served as a Preventive Medicine Officer in the US Army's 7th Infantry Division in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and Fort Monmouth
Fort Monmouth
Fort Monmouth was an installation of the Department of the Army in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The post is surrounded by the communities of Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport, New Jersey, and is located about 5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The post covers nearly of land, from the Shrewsbury...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. After his military service, he was a Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
Control Officer for the New Jersey Department of Health and Unit Medical Health Officer. He earned a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health
Harvard School of Public Health
The Harvard School of Public Health is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Area of the Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Mission Hill, which is next to Harvard Medical School. HSPH is considered a significant school focusing on health in the...
and a Doctor of Science at Johns Hopkins, writing a thesis on Medical Care Use Attributable to Cigarette Smoking. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
and came to the Vancouver Health Department in 1975. There, in 1982, he became Director of Health Promotion.
In 1989, he founded the BC Doctors Stop-Smoking Program to help doctors help their patients stop smoking. He helped to form the Society for Clinical Preventive Care in 1997, which has a mission to implement proven clinical preventive measures. In 2001 he was awarded a Senior (life) Membership in the Canadian Medical Association
Canadian Medical Association
The Canadian Medical Association , with more than 70,000 members, is the largest association of doctors in Canada and works to represent their interests nationally. It formed in 1867, three months after Confederation...
for his extensive work in tobacco control. He continues in 2007 to serve as the Medical Director of the Society for Clinical Preventive Health Care.
Early involvement with Vancouver politics
In 1989-90, Bass served on Vancouver's Clouds of Change Task Force which addressed the issues of global climate change. Bass, concerned about global warming, entered electoral politics in 1996 as a candidate for Vancouver's civic Green PartyGreen Party of British Columbia
The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is led by former Esquimalt municipal councillor, university professor and businessperson Jane Sterk, she was elected by the party in 2007. Penticton realtor and columnist Julius Bloomfield serves as the deputy...
under the leadership of Paul Watson
Paul Watson
Paul Watson is a Canadian animal rights and environmental activist, who founded and is president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a direct action group devoted to marine conservation....
but was defeated by a wide margin. However, the increased share of the vote won by the Greens and of a new populist party called VOICE resulted in a total rout for the city's leftist forces in which every single candidate who was not a member of the Non-Partisan Association
Non-Partisan Association
The Non-Partisan Association is a civic-level electoral organization in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. There are, and have also been in the past, Non-Partisan Association political parties in the nearby municipalities of Burnaby, Richmond and Surrey.The NPA was established in 1937 to...
was defeated. Despite being the Greens' second-best vote-getter in the 1996 election (second only to the party's provincial leader Stuart Parker
Stuart Parker
Stuart Parker was leader of the Green Party in British Columbia, Canada, from 1993 to 2000. In 2009, during the Ontario by-election to replace MPP Michael Byrant, he unsuccessfully sought the Ontario New Democratic Party nomination for the St...
), Bass was defeated when he sought renomination by the Greens in 1999. With the support of the Greens' executive and provincial leadership, he sought and won the nomination of the Coalition of Progressive Electors
Coalition of Progressive Electors
The Coalition of Progressive Electors is a municipal political party in the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia.-Origins:...
(COPE), the party with which the Greens had just inked a coalition agreement.
Elected City Councillor
Bass was first elected to city council in 1999 as a member of COPE, and topped the polls when re-elected in 2002 with 70,525 votes. His political priorities were action on the environment and transit. Bass was outspoken in his opposition to the expansion of gambling and to excessive expenditures for rapid transit by a faction of his party under the leadership of Mayor Larry CampbellLarry Campbell
Larry W. Campbell was the 37th Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently a member of the Canadian Senate. Starting in 1969 Campbell worked for the RCMP in Vancouver and then in 1973 as a member of the Drug Squad...
.
In 2003-2005, three COPE Councillors and the Mayor split from the party to form Vision Vancouver
Vision Vancouver
Vision Vancouver is one of three parties represented on Vancouver City Council in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vision was formed in the months leading up to the 2005 municipal election.-Formation:...
. Bass and councillors Tim Louis
Tim Louis
Tim Louis is a lawyer and municipal politician in Vancouver, Canada. He was elected to the Vancouver Parks Board in 1990 and 1993, and later to Vancouver City Council as a member of the Coalition of Progressive Electors in 1999 and 2002.-Education, Advocacy and Professional Life:Tim Louis...
, David Cadman
David Cadman
David Cadman is a Vancouver city councillor, first elected in 2002. A social and environmental activist, Cadman is a member of Coalition of Progressive Electors....
, Anne Roberts
Anne Roberts
Anne Roberts is a journalism instructor and former Vancouver city councillor. She was elected as a member of the winning majority of Coalition of Progressive Electors in 2002....
and Ellen Woodsworth
Ellen Woodsworth
thumb|right|175px|Ellen Woodsworth speaking at a press conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada.Ellen Woodsworth is a former Vancouver City Councillor...
remained in COPE. Bass was not re-elected in the 2005 election, finishing 12th overall with 48,248 votes.
Bass introduced a controversial motion in 2005 to widen the sidewalks on the Burrard Bridge to encourage cyclists and pedestrians, but first do a minimal-cost trial of using one lane in each direction for bicycles, reserving the existing sidewalk for pedestrians, despite the failure of a similar experiment in 1996. The sidewalk-widening was slated to cost $13 million if the $2 million trial failed. Some cyclists applauded the move, though other users of the current bridge sidewalks questioned whether any changes were necessary. Concerns about motorist rage did not deter Bass, who stated "Motorists called for my head long ago and my head is still on my neck." Heritage advocates strongly supported the bicycle trial, since the sidewalk-widening would impair the heritage value of this landmark, art deco bridge. Bass was the Council lead on the Vancouver Area Transit Plan, which planned six new bus routes and a number of transit-friendly changes.