Close X
Friday, November 1, 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

Heavy snow, winter storm bring hazardous driving conditions to B.C. highways

Heavy snow, winter storm bring hazardous driving conditions to B.C. highways
Environment Canada is warning of hazardous driving conditions on several stretches of British Columbia highways as a strong Pacific frontal system pushes into the Interior. A winter storm warning has been issued for the Sea to Sky Highway from Squamish to Whistler, with snow accumulation forecast to reach up to 50 centimetres by Thursday.  

Heavy snow, winter storm bring hazardous driving conditions to B.C. highways

Son dies in 2021 BC crane tragedy

Son dies in 2021 BC crane tragedy
When Chris Vilness heard about the crane accident that killed a construction worker in Vancouver last week, he was angry, and he didn't have to imagine what the woman's family was going through. In 2021, his son Cailen was among five men killed when a crane that was being dismantled collapsed in Kelowna, B.C.

Son dies in 2021 BC crane tragedy

B.C. Premier Eby apologizes to Doukhobors, for wrongs that 'echoed for generations'

B.C. Premier Eby apologizes to Doukhobors, for wrongs that 'echoed for generations'
British Columbia Premier David Eby has officially apologized in the Victoria legislature to members of the Doukhobor religious community, including children who were forcibly taken from their parents more than 70 years ago. He says those children were physically and psychologically mistreated after being placed in educational facilities, including a former tuberculosis sanatorium in New Denver, in B.C.'s southern Interior.

B.C. Premier Eby apologizes to Doukhobors, for wrongs that 'echoed for generations'

BC not effectively managing hazardous spills

BC not effectively managing hazardous spills
The number of hazardous spills in British Columbia has trended upwards over the last several years, making it even more important for the government to prepare, auditor general Michael Pickup says.  His latest report released Tuesday says the Ministry of Environment is not effectively managing hazardous spills in the province, using a decade-old response plan and data that is not easily accessible.  

BC not effectively managing hazardous spills

Theft involving 14 deer antlers

Theft involving 14 deer antlers
Police in Fort St. John, B.C., are on the lookout after a number of hunting trophies were stolen, including 14 sets of deer antlers. Mounties say the break-in was reported at an abandoned property on Feb. 9 and the rear door had been kicked in.

Theft involving 14 deer antlers

Safety board says broken wheel caused 61-car CN Rail derailment in B.C.

Safety board says broken wheel caused 61-car CN Rail derailment in B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board says a broken wheel set off a train derailment in B.C.'s Fraser Canyon, spilling six million kilograms of potash.  In September 2020, 61 cars on a Canadian National Railway freight train left the tracks just south of Hope, B.C.

Safety board says broken wheel caused 61-car CN Rail derailment in B.C.