Senate sends C-14 to committee, but adjourns until after Monday deadline

There's now no way the federal government is going to meet Monday's Supreme Court deadline to enact legislation on doctor-assisted dying.

Senators have voted to adopt the legislation, known as Bill C-14, in principle and to send it to the Senate's legal committee.

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However, after Friday's decision, the upper chamber opted to adjourn until Tuesday the day after the high court's deadline.

The members of the Senate committee will meet Monday to hear witnesses, and will do a clause-by-clause review first thing Tuesday in order to report it back to the Senate that day.

The decision followed a news conference by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said he was still confident the controversial bill could be passed in time.

The Supreme Court agreed to a four-month extension on the year it had given Parliament to enact legislation responding to its landmark ruling lifting the ban on doctor-assisted dying.

Medical regulators in every province have issued guidelines for physicians on providing assistance in dying. Those guidelines impose safeguards similar to and in some cases, even stronger than those proposed in C-14.