I think you bring up a very good point. The the one thing I've definitely heard from social workers, not necessarily from Service Canada but from social workers who deal with individuals on the front line, usually in hospitals, or are the front-line defence or the first call in what's going on, is having clarity and understanding of who it applies to, being very clear on the roll-out of this, and being very clear on making it as accessible as possible to families. These are families in distress, undergoing parts of their lives as described by Ms. Loblaw, very much in the most critical parts of their lives, and any barriers to accessing services will mean the uptake will not happen for them.
As well, on the social work side, whether it's front-line service workers with Service Canada or social workers through their provincial government, there is need for a very strong clarification too, a need to be very clear on who can access this and being very open and responsive when the roll-out happens if changes and clarifications need to be added to the act or additional benefits to different populations need to be added to the act.
I think there is some confusion out there in the social work world on the front line about the difference between compassionate care and how “critically ill” would be defined under this act, where the two lines happen, and how that will affect people while they're in those situations.