I have to be honest with you. My best guess, from what I've seen, is that there was a lot of concern about the potential for the issue to divide people. Obviously, when you count on donations, you worry about how your supporters will feel. However, I think there's also genuine ambivalence within the organization.
I have to say that as someone who's fairly new to being immersed in this issue, I've been struck by how it feels as though the country's opinions on it have come around pretty quickly. The conversations I'm hearing in the city now about this are very much focused on “how”. I think five or six years ago, they were more about “if”.
To be honest, the Canadian Cancer Society has been going through what a lot of Canadians have been going through, which is to make its peace and to address the questions and misgivings that it had about this.
I should also say that one thing I've told people is that defeating cancer is enough of a day job. We don't have to solve all of the mortal questions of the universe, and we have to leave some stuff for other people to figure out.