Executors at odds with Cancer Society over how $2M bequest should be directed

TORONTO The executors of an Ontario man's will are in a dispute with the Canadian Cancer Society over their request that a major portion of a multimillion-dollar bequest to the charity be directed towards research into pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest of all malignancies.

However, the Cancer Society says its policy is to follow a donor's wishes to the letter, as set out in their will, and has refused to entertain the idea.

Robert Clark, a Kingston entrepreneur who died in 2016 at age 78, bequeathed $12 million to a number of charities, including $2 million to the Canadian Cancer Society. The CCS received half the money last year, and partial disbursements have also been made to the other charities named in his will.

In November, co-executors Walter Viner, Clark's longtime lawyer and best friend, and nephew Jason Clark saw a TV news item about the Pancreatic Cancer Canada Foundation (PCCF) seeking $2 million to fund PancOne, a project aimed at bolstering research into the disease.

The story featured a Toronto-area man, videotaped before his death at 57 from pancreatic cancer, and his plea for donations to provide a “chance at hope” for others who develop this form of tumour.

Moved by his story and the desperate outlook for those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer — only seven per cent survive five years — Viner and Clark contacted the PCCF with the idea of approaching the Cancer Society about a partnership between the two charities to direct some or all of the bequest to PancOne.

“Bob would have watched this program and said ‘I can help out, I can help out a whole bunch of people by delivering some money to pancreatic cancer,’” said Viner, now a certified executor adviser. “I think that would have really resonated with him.”

For Jason Clark, who worked closely with his uncle for 25 years at St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, one of the companies founded by the elder Clark, a joint research venture with the Cancer Society seemed a no-brainer.

“When we came across this PancOne, we thought geez, here’s an opportunity that we can make that other million or possibly even more — take some of the original million and put it together — and get it to PancOne so these guys have a real leg up for what they’re trying to accomplish,” he said.

“And this is where we got sort of stalemated.”

Viner and Clark exchanged numerous emails with various Cancer Society staff in the following weeks, but said they had trouble getting anyone to commit to an in-person meeting with them and PCCF executive director Michelle Capobianco, who had initially reached out to the CCS on their behalf.

Instead, a Jan. 11 conference call was arranged with Sara Oates, the society’s executive vice-president of finance and operations, during which the executors pitched the idea of a CCSPCCF partnership to direct at least some of the bequest to pancreatic cancer research through PancOne.

Also on the line was Dr. Jim Biagi, a Kingston pancreatic cancer researcher, whom the executors thought would “fit like a glove” with a clause in Robert Clark’s will — that some of his donation be used for local endeavours. Biagi is supported by both PancOne and the CCS.

But Clark said the message they received from Oates was essentially “just send us the money and then we’ll have a conversation.”

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Oates said bequests are a key component of revenue raised by the Cancer Society and that it’s critical the charity act in accordance with a donor’s specific wishes.