Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

Deportation hearing set for truck driver in deadly Saskatchewan hockey team bus crash

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 08 Apr, 2024 12:13 PM
  • Deportation hearing set for truck driver in deadly Saskatchewan hockey team bus crash

A deportation hearing for the truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash six years ago has been scheduled for next month. 

Lawyer Michael Greene said Monday the hearing for his client Jaskirat Singh Sidhu is to be held May 24.

"It was an inevitability. I mean, the (immigration) minister could always decide not to go ahead with it, but it doesn't seem to be happening at this point anyway," Greene said in an interview.

"There's nothing to contest. You're convicted or you're not. All they have to establish is he's not a citizen and that he was convicted."

Sidhu was sentenced to eight years in prison for causing the 2018 crash in Saskatchewan that killed 16 people and injured 13 others. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving charges.

The rookie Calgary trucker, a newly married permanent resident from India, barrelled through a stop sign at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask., and drove into the path of the bus carrying the junior hockey team to a playoff game. 

Sidhu was granted full parole last year.

In December, the Federal Court dismissed applications from Sidhu's lawyer, who argued Canada Border Services officials didn’t consider Sidhu’s previously clean criminal record and remorse. He had asked for the agency to be ordered to conduct a second review.

Greene said the deportation hearings usually only take a few minutes. After that happens, he said the real work begins.

"Once he ceases to be a permanent resident then he can file an application on humanitarian grounds. Our goal is to do that fairly quickly," Greene said.

"How long it takes after that is the great unknown. It could be months. It could be years."

Greene said once a person is ordered deported, there is then a pre-removal risk assessment conducted and that usually takes a few months. He said Sidhu can also ask for a deferral while his request for permanent resident status is considered.

"The wheels of justice move slowly at times. It's been playing out over six years now," Greene said.

"We're cautiously optimistic. You can't erase the fact of the conviction and damage done.

"But everything else about him is positive and there's a lot of community support, although there are some people who can't and will never forgive."

MORE National ARTICLES

Canada on track to meet, exceed methane emission reduction goal by 2030: Trudeau

Canada on track to meet, exceed methane emission reduction goal by 2030: Trudeau
Canada is on track to hit and even surpass targets for reducing oilpatch methane emissions, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday, as the UN sought to hold leaders to account for their climate commitments. Draft regulations that are due before the end of the year will allow Canada to meet or even exceed its goal of slashing methane from the oil and gas sector by 75 per cent from 2012 levels by 2030.

Canada on track to meet, exceed methane emission reduction goal by 2030: Trudeau

Poilievre introduces housing bill, plan focuses on getting cities to build more homes

Poilievre introduces housing bill, plan focuses on getting cities to build more homes
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has introduced a private member's bill in the House of Commons that outlines a plan to address the national housing crisis.  The bill, which is unlikely to pass, centres around using federal infrastructure and transit spending to push cities to build more homes.  

Poilievre introduces housing bill, plan focuses on getting cities to build more homes

Vancouver police boost security at Indian Consulate since Trudeau remarks on killing

Vancouver police boost security at Indian Consulate since Trudeau remarks on killing
Const. Tania Visintin, the department's media relations officer, says police are "closely monitoring the situation" since Trudeau's announcement about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a vocal supporter of an independent Sikh homeland, who was shot dead in Surrey in June. She says Vancouver police aren't aware of any specific threats to Indian consular officials, but have increased police presence at the downtown Vancouver consulate.   

Vancouver police boost security at Indian Consulate since Trudeau remarks on killing

Four firefighters heading home die in vehicle crash on B.C. road: government

Four firefighters heading home die in vehicle crash on B.C. road: government
Four firefighters travelling home after battling British Columbia's wildfires have died in a road crash. Premier David Eby and Forests Minister Bruce Ralston say in a joint statement the firefighters died in a motor vehicle accident near Cache Creek in the B.C. Interior.

Four firefighters heading home die in vehicle crash on B.C. road: government

911 phone service for seniors

911 phone service for seniors
Vancouver police are offering free 9-1-1 cellphones to seniors who can’t afford their own phone. Police say in a statement that seniors on fixed or low incomes are sometimes less inclined to rely on technology for safety, especially if it involves a monthly cost.

911 phone service for seniors

Unusual North Vancouver crash

Unusual North Vancouver crash
A transport truck hauling a large, square container slammed into an overpass in North Vancouver on Tuesday, snarling traffic on Highway 1 for hours, and B.C.'s latest case of overheight mayhem also has a bizarre twist. RCMP say the driver fled after the crash that wedged the tarp-covered box underneath the Main Street overpass of Highway 1, buckling the flatbed trailer supporting it.

Unusual North Vancouver crash