How “Bailey’s Law” could change laws around intimate partner violence
5/5/202620 min
A Conservative private member’s bill named after Bailey McCourt, a 32-year-old mother of two killed in a Kelowna parking lot in July 2025 is making its way through the Senate. Her estranged husband has been charged with first-degree murder. The legislation proposes changes to the criminal code; 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.
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Matt Galloway· Host0:30
[upbeat music] This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is The Current podcast. Last summer, in the middle of the day in a parking lot in Kelowna, British Columbia, Bailey McCourt was attacked. She was 32 years old, had two children, and the man charged with her murder is her estranged husband. It is alleged that he rammed her car with his, then got out and hit her with a hammer. Now, a bill focused on intimate partner violence named Bailey's Law is one step closer to becoming reality. It's a private member's bill put forward by the conservative MP Frank Caputo. The bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons last week and has since moved on to the Senate. Bailey's friend, Kerry Wiebe, was in that car with her on the day of that attack. Kerry was badly injured, and since then has been pushing for changes to how the law in Canada treats intimate partner violence. She spoke yesterday to CBC Radio West host, Sarah Penton, who began by asking her