Family of slain Kelowna woman pushes intimate partner violence bill in Ottawa

The aunt of a Kelowna woman who was killed in an attack this summer is calling on the federal government to stop delaying new laws targeting intimate partner violence (IPV).

Debbie Henderson was in Ottawa Tuesday, speaking for her late niece Bailey McCourt.

McCourt’s estranged husband, James Edward Plover, has been charged with second-degree murder in relation to a vicious attack on McCourt and another woman on July 4, just hours after he was convicted of assault by choking and uttering threats related to a separate incident in 2024.

Henderson appeared in Parliament with federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre to push the government to pass Bill C-225, ‘Bailey’s Law,’ which calls for GPS monitoring for people convicted of IPV charges who are awaiting sentencing, an IPV offender registry, and tougher penalties for intimate partner homicides in which there is a documented history of abuse.

She implored Canadians to ask their local MPs to support the bill.

“It needs to be passed quickly. There’s no need to wait. The next person could be you or it could be one of your family members, and we don’t want to see any other family member go through the horror that our family has gone through,” said Henderson.

She says she’s furious that the Liberal government has so far failed to address intimate partner violence in its recently introduced bail reform legislation.

While federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser says B.C. government lobbying on the McCourt case is reflected in several elements of the reform, Premier David Eby acknowledges that the law does not include “everything” that the family or he wants. He says the province will continue to advocate for McCourt’s family.

Poilievre told media that his party is still evaluating the bail reform legislation, but his focus Tuesday was on Bailey’s Law.

“The time to move is now. The time to set partisanship aside is now,” said Poilievre.

“The time to address this was yesterday. It was before July 4, when Bailey was killed. We have to move. We have to listen to Canadians. If we, as legislators, are not prepared to listen to Canadians and move rapidly, then why are we here?”

Henderson says her family will hold onto the hope that Bill C-225 will pass until she sees otherwise.

—With files from Raynaldo Suarez and The Canadian Press.