Truck driver behind Humboldt Broncos bus crash to be deported to India after refugee request denied, lawyer says
Jaskirat Singh Sidhu’s request to stay in Canada as a refugee has been denied by the Immigration and Refugee Board, his lawyer says.
Michael Greene told The Canadian Press that he plans to ask for a deferral but with this decision, the Canada Border Service Agency is now under a legal obligation to deport his client from Canada at the earliest opportunity.
Sidhu’s previous application to restore his permanent residency status is still under consideration. This application advocates for Sidhu to be allowed to stay in Canada on humanitarian grounds as he has a child with severe heart and lung complications.
Sidhu arrived in Canada in 2014 and four years later was hired by a Calgary trucking company, Adesh Deol Trucking . In April 2018, he drove through a stop sign at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask., and crashed into a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team. The crash killed 16 young players and injured 13. The tragedy rocked the nation. As a sign of tribute, people put hockey sticks outside their doors and front porches.
Canadians have started a movement to honour the Humboldt Broncos, leaving their hockey sticks outside. The boys may need them, wherever they are. #HumboldtStrong pic.twitter.com/iJ0WKBfMlC
— Made In Canada (@MadelnCanada) April 10, 2018
The Alberta government laid charges against the trucking company that employed Sidhu and that company is no longer in business.
Sidhu pled guilty to 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of causing bodily injury.
During his sentence hearing in 2019, Sidhu apologized for his actions. “I take full responsibility for what has happened. It happened because of my lack of experience,” he told the court, that also included victims’ families and friends. “I can’t imagine what you are going through, what you’ve been through. I have taken the most valuable things of your life. I will be so so so so so sorry from this day.”
The judge sentenced Sidhu to eight years in prison. He was granted day parole for six months in 2022 and full parole in 2023.
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