'Bailey's Law' honouring Kelowna victim passes 2nd reading in Ottawa

A Kelowna family fighting for justice reform and tougher laws to prevent intimate partner violence is welcoming a political victory in Ottawa.

Bill C-225, or "Bailey's Law," is a Conservative private members bill named after Bailey McCourt, a Kelowna woman killed last July. It has unanimously passed a second reading in the House Of Commons.

"It was very emotional, very emotional ... it's almost hard to put into words," said Debbie Henderson, McCourt's aunt, who was in the parliamentary public gallery during the vote along with McCourt's father and stepmother.

"We're blown away to see that the whole House is standing up in support of change," she said.

Bailey McCourt, a 32-year-old a mother of two, was killed in a Kelowna parking lot last July.

McCourt's estranged husband, James Plover, who was convicted of assault and released from court pending sentencing just hours before her death, has been charged with first-degree murder.

The McCourt family and supporters have packed courtrooms as the accused's trial winds through the justice system, and have pushed for reforms to toughen laws regarding intimate partner violence.

Conservative MP for Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, Frank Caputo, tabled his private member Bill C-225, in October.

It proposes several changes to the Criminal Code of Canada, including: making the killing of an intimate partner an automatic first-degree murder charge, empowering courts to hold individuals charged with domestic assault for up to seven days for a risk assessment if there are red flags, and changing bail rules for those with a previous domestic violence conviction.

"These are common-sense and non-partisan issues," Caputo said when introducing the bill.

"I do not know why we would prolong the current law of intimate partner violence, or the lack thereof, for another day. Why would we let the status quo exist for another day?"

The bill received high-profile support from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative caucus, before Wednesday's vote.

Bill C-225 now moves to Parliament's Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, where MPs from all parties will hear from victims, stakeholders and experts.

Henderson and the McCourt family are planning to testify, and remain hopeful substantive reform will make it through committee, the Senate, and ultimately become law.