The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada is joining the think tank
By Deborah Gyapong
OTTAWA (CCN)
The Ottawa-based Institute of Marriage and Family Canada (IMFC) has merged with the Cardus think tank, with the official launch of Cardus Family set for early June.
“Stay tuned, because the launch of Cardus Family is happening in June, and we’ll be releasing a substantial poll on family aspirations,” said Cardus president and CEO Michael Van Pelt.
“I’m delighted we’re able to transition the IMFC into Cardus Family,” he said. “It’s a natural part of our development as a think tank that comes from 2000 years of Christian social thought.”
“From a broader macro-focus, Cardus is very research-based. We make arguments from a long intellectual tradition which is the Christian tradition, but we also apply rigorous research to our work. In the transition we’re going to do that even more than ever.”
IMFC executive director Andrea Mrozek, who will lead Cardus Family, said the study to be released at the launch will look at aspirations vs. reality in the areas including: marriage vs. cohabitation, fertility and the number of children people wish to have vs. how many they have, work/life balance, and caregiving that will include both child care and elder care.
If, as they expect, there is a gap in aspirations and reality in any of these areas, Cardus Family will research why this is the case, she said.
Van Pelt said he is delighted Mrozek will be remaining on board. “She’s a great communicator,” he said.
“What I love her about her is her ability to laugh and be relationally strong in the middle of very complex questions and issues,” he said. “Cardus speaks winsomely and creatively to difficult questions; you need that in this environment. Andrea’s going to do a spectacular job.”
