Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has thrown his support behind a grief-stricken family’s push for stronger judicial changes to protect victims of intimate partner violence.
“Bailey’s story is really one of tragic heartbreak,” Poilievre said at a news conference on Parliament Hill Tuesday morning.
Bailey McCourt, a mother of two young children, was killed in Kelowna, B.C., in July.
Her ex-husband, James Plover, is facing charges of second-degree murder.
Plover was convicted of a domestic violence charge hours before the deadly incident but was released pending sentencing.
The opposition leader was joined by Bailey’s stepmom, Trish McCourt, and aunt and family spokesperson, Debbie Henderson.
“We don’t want to see any other family member go through the horror that our family has gone through,” an emotional Henderson said at the news conference.
The family has been pushing for the government to enact Bailey’s Law, which outlines legislative measures they feel are needed to reduce the number of deaths related to domestic violence.
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“We are demanding change,” Henderson said. “There is no need to wait. This is an epidemic.”
Their cause has been taken on by Frank Caputo, Conservative MP for Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, who has brought forward a private member’s bill.
Bill C-225, also known as Bailey’s Law, includes protective measures such as GPS monitoring of offenders, a domestic violence offenders registry and presumptive first-degree murder charges when there’s a history of intimate partner violence.
“The government has the ability to get this bill through the House of Commons versus the Senate in a matter of weeks, if not days,” Caputo said, also speaking at the news conference Tuesday. “The time for change is now.”
Last week, federal justice minister Sean Fraser announced much-anticipated bail reform but the changes left the family disappointed.
“It doesn’t really address intimate partner violence and this bill does,” Henderson said. “This is a human issue, it’s a non partisan issue”
One of the changes is what’s referred to as reversed-onus bail hearings for certain offences, including ones that involve strangulation and choking.
It means the perpetrator is the one who must prove they are safe to be released into the community instead of prosecution making the case to keep them behind bars
Henderson said that concept is ambiguous and leaves it open to interpretation.
She added the changes announced do not go far enough in protecting victims of domestic violence, as does Bill C-225.
“We want to work with any party to get this bill passed to protect people,” Poilievre said. “We encourage every party to join with us.”
Bailey’s family also met with B.C. Premier David Eby over Zoom on Monday.
They say the premier has promised to help push for Bailey’s Law
“In that conversation with him, we did receive that endorsement for Bill C-225,” Henderson said. “He supports these changes and we are very grateful for that.”
On Wednesday, the family will also meet with the federal justice minister to try and get his support for the proposed bill before flying back to B.C.
“We will keep bringing Bailey’s name up. We will keep fighting for the changes we know the system needs,” Henderson said.
“The cracks in the system need to be filled.”
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