One of the most controversial bills in Canadian history has passed through the House of Commons and now its down to the Senate to either pass it as is or make amendments.

Bill C-14, the Doctor Assisted Dying legislation, passed its third reading last week with 186 MPs voting for and 137 against, and out of those against includes Foothills MP John Barlow.

Barlow held consultations on the bill prior to its discussions in Ottawa, from open houses to surveys, and says there were two numbers that lead to his decision on behalf of the Foothills.

"The feedback that I had, 88 percent to be exact, was that they wanted some sort of protection for decisions of conscience for physicians and 75 percent wanted some sort of initiative in their commitment to palliative care," he says. "So with those two numbers, I voted against the bill in the 3rd reading."

Barlow says there was just too many parameters involved that didn't do enough to swing his vote in favour of the bill.

"The bill in my view and many of my colleagues does not include any protections for decision of conscience for physicians and health care professionals. There is absolutely no commitment in there for palliative care, so for those two reasons, and those were the two largest issues that arose from the riding, I voted against it."

When discussing the bill with colleagues and members of the senate on both sides of the House, Barlow said from what he gathered in talks, the bill the way it is now will not pass by its deadline.

"Don't make compromises to get this done quickly as this is probably one of the most important bills that we will ever deal with as parliamentarians. I think this is something we have to make sure we get right and if it takes longer than that June 6 deadline and we have to come back in July to debate the amendments from the Senate or the bill from the Senate, then I think that's something that we should commit to do."

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