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June 14, 2023

Dr. Laurel Sakaluk Meets with Czech Republic Officials to Discuss Family Policies

Vanier Institute Board Member Dr. Laurel Sakaluk met with Czech Republic officials to discuss family wellbeing.

June 14, 2023

On June 7, 2023, Dr. Laurel Sakaluk, PhD, board member and Program Committee Chair at the Vanier Institute, met with Ms. Olga Richterova, Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, and Mr. Jiri Muchka, Deputy Head of Mission. The meeting took place at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa. Ms. Richterova was leading a delegation of members of Parliament from the Committee on Social Policy of the Czech Republic.

Dr. Sakaluk and Ms. Richterova had a wide-ranging discussion in which they shared insights on family poverty, intergenerational inequality, policy supports for families with young children, immigrant families in their respective countries, and more. The two discussed the Vanier Institute’s Family Diversities and Wellbeing Framework as a tool for guiding thinking around how to support development of policies that help to enable families to thrive.

“It was an honour and privilege to meet Ms. Richterova to reflect on what can be done to support family wellbeing,” said Dr. Sakaluk. “The conversation left me with a deeper understanding of family policy issues and opportunities in our Canadian context because of the opportunity to learn from her insights.”