Here’s a trivia question for you:

 Q: Where can your niche knowledge of 17th-century British philosophers actually make a difference for kids with cancer?

A: At the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO

The fundraiser was held Thursday at the Horticulture Building at Lansdowne, raising $160,000 for pediatric oncology research at the CHEO Research Institute. It was a sizeable jump from the $115,000 raised during last year’s inaugural event.

The sold-out crowd of 300 enjoyed an evening of drinks, snacks and trivia, drawing inspiration from Tamy Bell, a pediatric oncology research advocate, entrepreneur and mother of two. Tamy and her husband Evan Bell lost their six-year-old son Griffin to cancer on March 17, 2024. Hearing her story was as a sobering reminder of why everyone was there.

Tamy Bell, an advocate for childhood cancer research and care, spoke at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO, at the Horticulture Building on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. Photo by Caroline Phillips

The evening, emceed by CTV’s Austin Lee, had a relaxed feel, set to the lively tunes of a DJ.

The questions started off simple, luring participants into a false sense of smarty-pants confidence. The first round of music trivia was so easy that the crowd all sang along to the song snippets.

Having to identify various bird calls threw some teams for a loop, however. Then came the real brain teasers.

“Oh my God, I’ve never felt dumber,” quipped Tiree account executive Tim Helferty during the final round, where many blank stares were seen around the room.

It was a great night for the legal-eagle set. Eric Presseau, a partner and real estate lawyer in Gowling WLG’s Ottawa office, won the raffle prize of a pair of Air Canada tickets.

The lawyers from Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall came first in the trivia challenge, winning box seat tickets to an upcoming Ottawa Senators game at the Canadian Tire Centre. The law firm’s office is in Constitution Square, a three-tower downtown office complex managed by Canderel.

Gowling WLG partner and real estate lawyer Eric Presseau was the enthusiastic raffle winner of a pair of Air Canada tickets. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Perley-Robertson partner and real estate lawyer Tim Thomas assembled lawyers of different ages and expertise. That was the extent of the strategic planning and preparation, though. Rounding out the team were James Wilding, Morgan Lee, Anthony McGlynn, Sarah Kennedy and Dirk Bouwer.

“Our goal was to finish in the middle of the pack,” said Thomas, who promised that they’ll be back next year to defend their title. He also has a family connection to Griffin Bell. Thomas attended the large Celebration for Life held for the boy in 2024, also at the Horticulture Building.

The team most in need of improvement — who shall remain nameless in this recap — was given Trivial Pursuit board games to help them improve for next year.

Construction industry leaders turned out in force, including EllisDon’s senior vice president and area manager Mike Armstrong with a large team. There was also Mike Taggart, president of Taggart Construction and Doran Contractors, Morley Hoppner partner Brian Morley, and Sam Fuller, president of Fuller Construction. His team – known to brush up on its knowledge during trivia pub nights in Stittsville — won last year.

Attendees also included Steve Grandmont, CEO of Richcraft Homes, one of the larger residential developers in Ottawa.

From left, Christian Correa (director of operations at EllisDon), Nathan Stewart (vice president of operations at EllisDon), Ryan Martineau (construction manager at EllisDon) and Mike Armstrong (senior vice president and area manager at EllisDon) at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO, held at the Horticulture Building. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Canderel Group vice president Mike Sutherland, left, and Steve Grandmont, CEO of Richcraft Homes, at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO, held at the Horticulture Building. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Representing the Morley Hoppner team were, from left, Jasmin Brisson (senior project manager), Michael Assal (chief estimator), Nick Szaszkiewicz (VP & district manager), Lynn Mills (general superintendent), Kathy Downs (manager of HR and admin) and partner Brian Morley, at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO, held at the Horticulture Building. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Mike Taggart, president of Taggart Construction and Doran Contracting, and his wife, Angela Taggart, participate in the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO, held at the Horticulture Building. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Leigh Fuller with her brother, Sam Fuller, president of Fuller Construction, Erin Horwitz and and Mike Chagnon participated in the the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO after winning at last year’s inaugural fundraiser. Photo by Caroline Phillips

The fundraiser was organized by a committee led by Mark LeBlanc, president of Tiree. It’s an Ottawa-based company that specializes in project management and advisory services for complex infrastructure projects, such as the rehabilitation of Parliament Hill’s Centre Block.

LeBlanc is also on the leadership cabinet for CHEO’s $220-million Kids These Days campaign to transform pediatric care for the region. Representing Canderel was its chief operations officer, Rudy Khoury.

The research side of CHEO doesn’t always get the attention it deserves, LeBlanc told CiTC. “It’s really important because it leads to breakthroughs, better outcomes and gives us hope.”

LeBlanc added that he’s been “blown away” by the support for the fundraiser. “Everyone always steps up, which is amazing.”

From the Tiree team, from left, Myles Cook (director of business development), Melissa Moffitt (vice president of business development), Yasaman Tehrani (account executive), president Mark LeBlanc, Lisa Anderson (vice president of marketing and communications) and Tim Helferty (account executive) at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO. Photo by Caroline Phillips

The event included a video message from Dr. Jason Berman, the CEO and scientific director of CHEO Research Institute.

Tamy Bell took to the stage early in the night to share her family’s cancer story, sad ending and all. Her late son Griffin was diagnosed at 16 months with a sneaky type of childhood cancer called neuroblastoma. Because he was born 11 weeks premature, Griffin was already making regular visits to CHEO for check-ups, which is what helped doctors catch the disease early.

Doctors classified his cancer as stage two and low risk, giving Tamy hope that her little boy was going to be okay. “The odds were in our favour.”

While generally in good spirits that night, Tamy’s grief peeked through when she mentioned her recent dream involving her son, which she had around the same time children everywhere were returning to school.

The vivid dream ended with her jolting awake in a sweat. The clock read 3:03 a.m. “I wake up often thinking about him at this time.”

While the family enjoyed “two amazing years” of remission, Griffin’s life was often a cycle of hospitals and treatments, with everyone doing their best to save him. He also got to enjoy the simple joys of childhood: going to school, playing sports and learning to ride a bike, the room heard.

“Kids shouldn’t die because of cancer,” said Tamy, who began advocating for childhood cancer research while her son was still fighting the disease.

She spoke of the need for the federal government to continue funding this area, and the unique challenges that children with cancer face compared to the general population. “We need less harsh treatment options. We need funding for research. We need help.”

Many years ago, when asked to donate to childhood cancer research at a grocery store checkout, the mother admitted she would have politely declined.

“Because my child didn’t have cancer and neither did any that I knew. Until one day, mine did. I was forced to learn the hard way just how underfunded it is. I can’t tell you how many times I thought that maybe that grocery store donation could have been the very thing that saved my child’s life.”

In thanking everyone for their support, she added: “Perhaps you can be the reason why a child with neuroblastoma or leukemia gets to grow old.”

The audience rose in a standing ovation as Tamy walked back to her table, met there with a hug from her husband, Evan Bell.

Tamy Bell and her husband, Evan Bell, who lost their young son Griffin to cancer in 2024, shared a hug following her remarks, advocating for more funding into pediatric oncology and care, during the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Tiree president Mark LeBlanc, Canderel COO Rudy Khoury, Tamy Bell and Janice St-Denis, vice president of philanthropy at the CHEO Foundation, during the cheque presentation at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Greg Boddy, a partner at accounting and business advisory firm GGFL and its chief innovation officer and chief operating officer, Margot Sunter, at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Trivia players mingled during the cocktail reception at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO, held at the Horticulture Building at Lansdowne. Photo by Caroline Phillips

WSP Canada senior structural engineer and project manager Dayna Peloquin and Kevin Chang, also a structural engineer with WSP Canada, at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Eric Hernandez, assistant project manager at EllisDon, participating in the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Wayne Kerrick, a partner in Gowling WLG’s Ottawa office, was among the 300 supporters of the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO, held at the Horticulture Building. Photo by Caroline Phillips.

The winning team from Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall, as seen up on stage, were, from left, James Wilding, Morgan Lee, Anthony McGlynn, Sarah Kennedy, Dirk Bouwer and Tim Thomas. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Brian Morley (Morley Hoppner) and John Peters (Gowling WLG) at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO, held at the Horticulture Building. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO raised $160,000 for pediatric oncology research at the CHEO Research Institute. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Nuel Andre, director of business development at Govan Brown & Associates, was out supporting the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Boyden partner Paul Marshall, Ziyad Rahme, partner Kathy Rahme,  principal Collin Ritch and partner Andrew Dumont at the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO, held at the Horticulture Building. Photo by Caroline Phillips.

Austin Lee, anchor of the weekend edition of CTV News Ottawa, emceed the Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Tiree & Canderel Challenge: Trivia Night for CHEO raised $160,000 for pediatric oncology research at the CHEO Research Institute. Photo by Caroline Phillips

This article is made possible through sponsorship from Star Motors, WCPD, Marilyn Wilson Dream Properties, ExecHealth, Infinity Convention Centre, Altis Recruitment, Bell Canada, First Avenue Investment Counsel, RBC, Welch LLP, Brazeau Seller Law.

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