An Indian-origin truck driver in Canada, who caused the horrific bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team that killed 16 people, will be deported to India, Canadian media reported on Friday (May 24). Jaskirat Singh Sidhu arrived in Canada in 2014. On April 6, 2018, he barreled through a stop sign and into the path of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team’s bus at a rural intersection near Tisdale in Saskatchewan Province.
Many of the 16 killed were members of the hockey team, while 13 others were injured. According to a report by CBC, the decision to deport Sidhu back to India was announced by the Immigration and Refugee Board.
Trent Cook, a member of the board, told Sidhu, “I can’t consider humanitarian and compassionate factors. My sole role today is to make a finding on whether the minister has established the facts that support their allegation that you’re inadmissible for serious criminality.”
“I am required by law to issue you with a deportation order,” Cook added.
‘A foregone conclusion’
Reacting to the immigration board’s decision, Sidhu’s lawyer Michael Greene said that the decision was a foregone conclusion, as all that was required to deport Sidhu was proof he was not a Canadian citizen and he had committed a serious crime, CBC reported.
Sidhu, who lives in Calgary, had earlier pleaded guilty to dangerous driving offences and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was granted full parole in 2023.
Green said on Friday that there were more legal and procedural steps to follow and his client might not be deported for months or even years. Greene added that he planned to file an application asking the government to return Sidhu’s permanent resident status on humanitarian grounds.
He further pointed out that Sidhu’s child, who was born in Canada, had heart and lung complications. “It’s been a rough ride for them and that child requires a lot of medical attention,” the lawyer added.
One victim’s father forgives Sidhu
The CBC report further said that several family members of those killed in the 2018 crash demanded that Sidhu should be deported. However, the father of one of the victims said he had forgiven Sidhu and advocated for the truck driver to stay in Canada.