Fred Bass facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fred Bass
Vancouver City Councillor
In office 1999–2005
Personal details
Born	New York City, New York, United States
Political party	Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE)
Other political affiliations	Green Party of Vancouver
Alma mater	Johns Hopkins University Harvard University Case Western Reserve University
Military Service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Unit	7th Infantry Division

Fred Bass is a former city councillor, an environmentalist, and a doctor who focuses on preventing diseases. He worked in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As a doctor who studied how diseases spread (an epidemiologist), he worked hard to help people stop smoking. He was a member of the Vancouver City Council from 1999 to 2005.

Fred Bass: A Champion for Health and Environment

Early Life and Education

Fred Bass was born in New York City. He studied at several universities, including Antioch College, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Harvard School of Public Health, and Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

He served in the US Army as a preventive medicine officer. This means he helped keep soldiers healthy and prevent illnesses. He was stationed in Korea and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. After his time in the military, he worked to control tuberculosis for the New Jersey Department of Health.

Fred Bass earned advanced degrees in public health. He studied how diseases affect large groups of people (epidemiology). His research focused on how cigarette smoking led to people needing medical care. He also taught at the University of Pennsylvania.

Fighting Tobacco Use

In 1975, Fred Bass started working with the Vancouver health department. He was a specialist in preventing diseases and studying how they spread. Soon after, he created the Tobacco and Illness Committee for the BC Medical Association. He led this committee for 20 years.

With the Vancouver health department, he became Canada's first director of health promotion. This role focused on helping people live healthier lives. In 1989, Bass started the B.C. Doctors' Stop-Smoking Program. This program taught doctors how to help patients who were addicted to tobacco quit smoking. This program later became the Society for Clinical Preventive Care in 1997. Many people called him one of the most dedicated anti-smoking advocates in the province.

Creative Campaigns

Fred Bass was known for his unique and creative ways to raise awareness. For example, he once hired a plane to fly a banner with an anti-tobacco message. This happened at a fireworks event that was sponsored by a tobacco company. He also organized a race with live turkeys in Robson Square. This event was to promote a "cold-turkey" campaign, which means quitting smoking suddenly.

Thanks to years of effort from groups like the BC Medical Association, the government introduced new laws. These laws banned tobacco advertising and stopped the sale of tobacco products to young people. They also made it illegal to smoke indoors in all public places. In 2001, Fred Bass received an honorary award from the Canadian Medical Association for his important work in tobacco control.

Fred Bass himself had started smoking when he was 16. He smoked a pack a day until he quit at age 28. He said that because he used to smoke, he understood how difficult it was for others to quit.

Stepping into Politics

In 1989–90, Fred Bass was part of Vancouver's Clouds of Change Task Force. This group looked at issues related to global climate change. Bass was very concerned about global warming.

He decided to enter politics in 1996. He ran as a candidate for Vancouver's civic Green Party. However, he did not win that election. Later, with support from the Greens, he joined the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE). The Green Party and COPE had agreed to work together. Bass won the nomination for COPE.

Serving as City Councillor

Fred Bass was first elected to the Vancouver City Council in 1999 as a member of COPE. He was re-elected in 2002 and received the most votes among all candidates. His main goals as a city councillor were to protect the environment and improve public transportation.

Bass often spoke out against expanding gambling in the city. He also disagreed with some of his party members about spending too much money on rapid transit.

Making Vancouver More Bike-Friendly

In 2005, Fred Bass suggested a new idea to encourage cycling and walking. He proposed using two lanes of the six-lane Burrard Bridge for bicycles. Before this, cyclists shared the sidewalk with people walking. His first step was a low-cost trial. This trial used one lane in each direction for bikes, keeping the sidewalk just for pedestrians.

Some cyclists liked this idea, but others wondered if changes were really needed. Some people worried about drivers getting angry, but Bass was not worried. He said, "Motorists called for my head long ago and my head is still on my neck." Groups that protect historical buildings also supported the bike trial. They felt that widening the sidewalks would harm the historical look of the beautiful, art-deco bridge.

In 2005, some COPE councillors and the mayor left the party to form Vision Vancouver. Fred Bass and other councillors stayed with COPE. Bass was not re-elected in the 2005 election. In late 2006, he thought about running for mayor. He was concerned about global warming, homelessness, and the lack of affordable homes. However, in August 2007, he decided not to run for mayor.

Protecting Our Planet

Fred Bass has said that his work against smoking was like "practice" for campaigning against global warming. In May 2012, he was one of several protesters arrested in White Rock, BC. They were blocking a train that was carrying American coal to be shipped to Asia.

In 2019, Bass started leading public workshops on "eco-resilience." He describes this as the ability for individuals, families, communities, and nature to handle the challenges of environmental problems.

Personal Journey

Fred Bass's family has an Orthodox Jewish background. When he was in college, he worked on a project in Alaska with a group called Quakers. He stayed connected with Quaker communities and later in life became a Quaker. He also practices Soto Zen Buddhism. Fred Bass has four adult children. Two are with his long-term partner, Roma Dehr, and two are from a previous marriage.