Ron Basford

Stanley Ronald Basford, PC (April 22, 1932 – January 31, 2005) was a long-time Canadian Cabinet minister[1] in the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau.[2] Based in British Columbia, he was known as "Mr. Granville Island"[3] for his support of the Granville Island redevelopment project in Vancouver.[4]

Ron Basford
Plaque describing namee of Ron Basford Park
Born	Stanley Ronald Basford (1932-04-22)April 22, 1932 Winnipeg, Manitoba
Died	January 31, 2005(2005-01-31) (aged 72)
Nationality	Canada

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba Basford moved with his mother to Comox, British Columbia, following the death of his father, where he completed his last three years of high school. He then attended the University of British Columbia, earning a Law degree in 1956. Following his period of Articles, he was admitted to the Bar, and practised law for the next six years.

Basford had become interested in politics in his early teenage years and was very active in the Liberal Party while at university. He was nominated as the Liberal candidate in Vancouver Burrard in March, 1962, and contested the election in June of that year, at the age of 29, losing by 94 votes.

Basford was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Vancouver—Burrard in the 1963 election and was re-elected in the 1965 election. From 1968 to 1979, he represented the riding of Vancouver Centre.

In 1968, Trudeau brought Basford into cabinet as Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. He subsequently served as Minister of State for Urban Affairs (1972–1974), Minister of National Revenue (1974–1975) and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (1975–1978).

As Vancouver's leading cabinet minister, Basford is credited with helping to scuttle plans for an expressway along the city's waterfront that would have levelled the Gastown and Chinatown neighbourhoods, for encouraging local planning and neighbourhood improvement, and for helping win federal support for the construction of thousands of units of co-operative housing in the city.

As Consumer and Corporate Affairs minister, Basford shepherded the passage of legislation that dramatically reduced pharmaceutical prices. This gave Canada the lowest drug prices in the industrialized world into the late 1980s when the legislation was repealed by the Mulroney government. Basford also had passed into law the Hazardous Products Act that eliminated flammable children's bedding and clothing from the market. His most controversial move, at the time, was the adoption of the SI (metric) system as Canada's official standard of weights and measures. This provoked strong opposition from many Canadians, but has since been accepted.

During his 30 months as Minister of State for Urban Affairs, Basford led the new Ministry into the uncharted waters of Federal/Provincial/Municipal consultation and cooperation through the development of Tri Level Concerences and working groups, improving the relationships among Canada's three levels of government. At the same time, he sponsored a complete revision of the National Housing Act, which initiated an era of wider programs of social housing and financial aid to municipalities through the Neighbourhood Improvement Program and the Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program.

As Justice minister, Basford arranged a clemency agreement that kept abortion rights campaigner and practitioner Henry Morgentaler out of jail. He was also Justice minister in 1976 when Canada abolished capital punishment, and when the Canadian Human Rights Act was amended to require equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.

Basford retired from cabinet in 1978, as the longest-serving Minister from BC since Confederation, and did not run in the 1979 election. He practised law with the Vancouver law firm of Davis and Company, and was named Coordinator by the governments of BC and Canada of the complex Northeast Coal Development in 1982.

Hill is centre of Ron Basford Park in Granville Island

Ron Basford Park at Granville Island is named after him.

References

1. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20050202&slug=granville02m
2. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/02/01/basford050201.html
3. http://granvilleislandworks.com/about/history-of-granville-island
4. http://granvilleisland.com/sites/all/files/Granville%20Island-%20From%20Sandbar%20to%20Raising%20the%20Bar.pdf

External links

• Ron Basford – Parliament of Canada biography

Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Thomas Berger	Member of Parliament for Vancouver—Burrard 1963–1968	Succeeded by Last member, riding abolished in 1966
Preceded by Jack R. Nicholson	Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre 1968–1979	Succeeded by Art Phillips
Political offices
Preceded by John Turner	Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs 1968–1972	Succeeded by Bob Andras
Preceded by Robert Stanbury	Minister of National Revenue 1974–1975	Succeeded by Bud Cullen
Preceded by Otto Lang	Minister of Justice 1975–1978	Succeeded by Otto Lang
Preceded by Francis Fox	Solicitor General of Canada 1978	Succeeded by Jean-Jacques Blais