Regenerative medicine is an area which can have profound impact on the delivery of health care in the country and in the world. It’s really an extension of asking, Where can we get the most leverage in the health-care system for the dollars invested?

I look at the health-care system and think that we’re in big trouble. The baby boom is in the process of retiring. It’s the largest piece of the population, and 80% of health-care costs occur after 60. We have a lot of very talented individuals working within the system, and they’re doing a good job. But I just don’t think the system can be scaled up from where it is today to handle the needs that are going to be on top of us in a very short period of time. We need to change the model. We have to change the cost structure.

What led you to decide to support the centre?

There were a number of factors. One was just a personal situation. In February 2002, one of my sisters died, and four months later my mother died. So all of a sudden you go, “Whoa. What’s happening here? My world’s changed.” So suddenly the end comes closer, and you say, “Well, all right, what else has happened? I’ve done pretty well in business. And I’d like to share some of it. Where would I like to share it?”

Seymour Schulich had gotten me involved putting some money into the Schulich School of Business, where I’d done my MBA, and that would have been the first what I’d call “large” donation that I made. And he said, “You won’t believe what happens when you do this. All sorts of good things come to you. And it’s all very unexpected.” I said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” But it started, and then I didn’t really think much about it.

And then I went to the hospital, and said I’d like to make a donation. And they said, “Where would you like to put it?” And I said, “Well, tell me all of the things you’re doing.” And they said, “Well, we have this strategic plan, and we have four key areas that will form the foundation of our future.” One of them was regenerative medicine. I tend to like areas that are innovative, and can have the potential for big change. So I said, “Well, I’d like to put our money there.”

Peter Munk was another fellow who was involved. And he said the same thing as Seymour. He said, “Things come at you that you wouldn’t expect when you give. You get more than you expect.”

Your philanthropic approach also takes into consideration business issues around the research you support?

In some ways, there’s really not a shortage of research dollars for medicine. There seems to be a great deal of time spent on writing applications, and the money is given. But I haven’t seen a great deal of accountability. That’s often countered by saying, “Well, science is inexact, and we can’t put delivery dates on our work.” And my counter to that is, “Well, maybe we should be.” And that maybe we should be doing work on products that we can use in five years, rather than maybe have something in 15.

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