Decision reserved on deportation of semi driver in Broncos crash

A federal court judge has reserved his decision on Jaskirat Singh Sidhu’s future in Canada.

Sidhu — the truck driver responsible for the crash involving the Humboldt Broncos in April of 2018 — is facing deportation to his home country of India now that he has served his prison sentence.

The Broncos were on their way to an SJHL playoff game in Nipawin when their bus collided with a semi at a rural intersection near Tisdale. The semi had blown through a stop sign and into the path of the bus.

Sixteen people on the bus died as a result of the crash and 13 others were injured.

In 2019, Sidhu was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to 16 charges of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in the wake of the crash.

Sidhu was granted day parole for six months in July of 2022. He got full parole after following conditions set out by the Parole Board of Canada and, according to his lawyer, is now working in Calgary.

During a hearing in that city Wednesday, lawyer Michael Greene argued that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) should not have recommended his client be deported.

The CBSA previously said that Sidhu be handed over to the Immigration and Refugee Board to decide whether he should be deported.

If Sidhu is successful in court, his case will be sent back to the border agency for review.

Federal Court Chief Justice Paul Crampton did not give a date for when he would have a decision but, because of the gravity of the case, said he would make it a priority.

Greene told the court his client caused a national tragedy and “immeasurable pain and suffering,” but the border officials who did the report didn’t factor in Sidhu’s previously clean record and remorse.

“The officer and the minister’s delegate unreasonably restricted their assessment to considering the past consequences of the offence while failing to give any real consideration to the future risk to public safety and security,” Greene told court.

“In effect, they made this case about punishment and retribution.”

Greene also referred to a report from psychologist Dr. Patrick Baillie, saying Sidhu has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and depression as a result of the crash, and if he was sent back to India, his condition would “continue to deteriorate.”

Sidhu wasn’t in court for the hearing.

“I’d like to extend our deepest sympathy to all concerned. I can’t recall any case more truly tragic or heartbreaking for everyone involved,” the judge said.

“The court will ultimately have to apply the rule of law recognizing that in so doing some lives can’t be brought back and some necessary healing may become more difficult on one side or the other.”

Crampton questioned Greene about the lawyer’s concerns over the border agency’s report. The judge noted it was 14 pages long and contained a lot of details.

“I’ve seen a lot of these decisions over the years and that was one of the longer, more comprehensive decisions that I’ve seen by an officer,” Crampton said.

Greene said the report failed to include positive details about his client, including his remorse and that he has a low chance of reoffending. He said the crash was a “twist of fate” that happened because Sidhu was distracted by the load he was hauling.

“When you look at all the circumstances of the offence, it’s not a case of someone who goes out and deliberately murders a whole bunch of people,” he said.

“It’s a case of where someone’s distracted and that danger creates a terrible situation, which became many, many, many times more terrible because of the fact that it was a bus.”

A lawyer for the federal Department of Justice said the report’s authors gave detailed reasons for their decision.

“The officers in this case far exceeded what they were required to do,” said Brendan Friesen. “The officers did a very good job of grappling with the main themes brought forward by the applicant. The officers considered all the important factors. They could have done no better.”

— With files from The Canadian Press