Stanley Ronald Basford, (April 22, 1932 – January 31, 2005) was a Canadian politician and lawyer who was a long-time Canadian Cabinet minister in the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau. Based in British Columbia, he was known as "Mr. Granville Island" for his support of the Granville Island redevelopment project in Vancouver. Basford earned his law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1956 and was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1963 Canadian federal election as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, representing the district of Vancouver Centre. After winning reelection in 1968, he held several cabinet positions over the next decade under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, including Minister of National Revenue from 1974 to 1975 and Minister of Justice and Attorney General from 1975 until his retirement from the Cabinet in 1978. He did not seek reelection in the 1979 Canadian federal election and resumed his law career. Early life and education 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. Political career 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