B.C.’s attorney general hopes new bail law can prevent further partner violence

VICTORIA – British Columbia Attorney General Niki Sharma says she is hopeful that new bail legislation introduced by the federal government will prevent a repeat of the events that led to death of a Kelowna woman.

Bailey McCourt’s ex-husband James Plover was charged with second-degree murder shortly after being freed on bail following his conviction for choking someone and uttering threats.

“What happened with Bailey McCourt should never happen again,” Sharma said. “I’m grateful to her family, who has been advocating for changes.” 

Sharma has previously identified the case in the need for stronger legal safeguards against intimate-partner violence, and the new law would move the burden of proof from the prosecution to the accused to justify why they should be freed while charged with such serious assaults, in a principle known as reverse onus.

Sharma said B.C. specifically lobbied for reverse onus in bail applications for assault and sexual assaults involving choking, suffocating or strangulation, and “this type of intimate partner violence” that can lead to the type of harm seen in the McCourt case. 

The legislation would also expand reverse onus for bail to anyone charged with offences where violence was used, threatened or attempted, with weapons, and would include previous convictions within the last 10 years. 

It would also create a new reverse onus for offenders seeking bail after guilty verdicts. 

Sharma said she was glad to see the proposed legislation address the gap between conviction and sentencing. 

She said it reflected B.C’s leadership in keeping repeat and violent offenders off the streets, and gave tools to impose tougher sentences involving extortion-related crimes. 

“So we all know that extortion is something that we are facing here, but also across the country,” Sharma said. 

Coun. Cori Ramsay, president of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, said her organization was pleased to see the announced legislation.

“One of the biggest issues for law enforcement in B.C. communities is repeat offenders, and the greatest area of impact is street disorder, particularly when it comes to vandalism, aggressive shoplifting, break-ins and random violence,” she said. 

She said that the “current set of rules for sentencing and bail are ineffective,” noting that “a handful of individuals are responsible for a significant number of crimes” in many B.C. member communities.

Ramsay said her organization still needed time to review the reforms in detail, although it was pleased to see Ottawa taking action. 

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association said in a statement that it “strongly opposes the bail and sentencing restrictions” found in the tabled legislation.

Executive director Howard Sapers said Canadians deserved to be safe, but they did not need to be made afraid first.

“Governments need to stick to the facts, when proposing new ways to deny people their Charter rights,” Sapers said. “It’s time to separate fear from fact.”

The association said in its statement that it is a “myth that bail is easy to obtain in Canada” and that government has yet to follow through on past promises to collect standardized data. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2025.