Close X
Friday, November 22, 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's Haiti airlift expands to include relatives, residents and charter flight

Canada's Haiti airlift expands to include relatives, residents and charter flight
Canada is expanding its evacuation of citizens from Haiti to include relatives and Canadian permanent residents, starting Wednesday if conditions allow. The government has also arranged for a charter flight for Canadians who pay a market rate to fly between the Dominican Republic and Montreal.

Canada's Haiti airlift expands to include relatives, residents and charter flight

Trudeau announces national school food program to feed 400,000 more kids per year

Trudeau announces national school food program to feed 400,000 more kids per year
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the upcoming federal budget will include a national school food program. Trudeau made the announcement in Toronto today with Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Families Minister Jenna Sudds as part of the Liberal government's pre-budget tour. 

Trudeau announces national school food program to feed 400,000 more kids per year

2 dead in Kelowna shooting

2 dead in Kelowna shooting
RCMP officers in Kelowna, B.C., are investigating after two bodies were found inside a local business following gunshots and a fire. A statement from the Mounties says they were called to the Adams Road area Wednesday afternoon after receiving a report of gunfire and a subsequent blaze at the building. 

2 dead in Kelowna shooting

No April Fool's joke, lots going up on April 1st

No April Fool's joke, lots going up on April 1st
Today marks the first day of changes to multiple taxes and other costs, including the national price on pollution, the federal excise tax on alcohol and the cost to ride some B-C ferries. Across Canada the added carbon price for gasoline will now be 17.6 cents per litre, up 3.3 cents per litre from before.

No April Fool's joke, lots going up on April 1st

Fatal stabbing in Victoria

Fatal stabbing in Victoria
Police in Victoria are investigating after one person was stabbed to death and a second was seriously injured Sunday morning. The department says officers were called to the 700-block of Pandora Avenue at approximately 4 a.m. and found the body of a man.  

Fatal stabbing in Victoria

2 injured in Surrey hit and run

2 injured in Surrey hit and run
Two people were injured in separate hit-and-run crashes early Sunday in Surrey. Police say the first crash involved a Dodge Challenger and a Tesla and the occupants of the Challenger fled the scene on foot.   

2 injured in Surrey hit and run