'Not getting on a plane any time soon': Deportation decision delayed in Humboldt Broncos case
A decision on whether a former truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash should be deported to India likely won't be coming until the new year.
A lawyer for Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 33, had sent a voluminous amount of paperwork to the Canada Border Services Agency earlier this year arguing why he should be allowed to stay in Canada once his sentence has been served.
Sidhu was sentenced to eight years after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm in the April 2018 collision that killed 16 people and injured 13.
Court was told Sidhu, a newly married permanent resident, had missed a stop sign at a rural Saskatchewan intersection and drove into the path of the Broncos bus carrying players and staff to a junior hockey league playoff game.
The Canada Border Services Agency is to write a report recommending whether he be allowed to stay in his adopted country or be deported. The deadline for the paperwork to be submitted was Nov. 28, but that has been delayed one month.
“Since it's been so long since we made our original submissions, they wanted to give us an opportunity to update our information with anything new before they made a decision,” Calgary immigration lawyer Michael Greene said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
Greene said there's not a lot of new information to submit, but he wants to be thorough and has asked for some updated correctional reports.
“The psychologist is going to pay (Sidhu) another visit just to see if there's been any changes in his mental health that could affect his report,” he said.
“We're confident we submitted a very strong package in the first place but, on the other hand, it's a difficult decision and we don't want to go back and say, 'Oh, we missed something that we should have had in there.”'
The 415 pages sent to the federal agency include letters from Sidhu's family, the public and three Broncos families, including Scott Thomas whose 18-year-old son, Evan, died in the crash.
“I know for a fact that (Sidhu) will never drive a semi again. I know for a fact that if he could take back what happened that day he would in a heartbeat. He would trade places with any one of those boys,” Thomas said earlier this year.
Greene said he's surprised by the positive feedback in the case, especially after his client spoke to a few media outlets to tell his story.
“It's tough because I think most Canadians felt genuine pain and anguish for the victims and I expected that would result in a lot of anger, and it's surprisingly not been the case,” Greene said.
“This never leaves (Sidhu) so he's battling his own post-traumatic stress as are so many people who've been touched by this. He's ... really committed to making something positive out of a terrible situation.”
Chris Joseph, whose son Jaxon also died in the crash, is one of several Broncos families who have written letters asking for Sidhu to be deported. He said it's the law and laws are there for a reason.
“I can appreciate how 29 families can feel different ways about him but, in my view, the matter of deportation is not about forgiveness. It's not about how you feel about a person. It's not about whether you think he made a single mistake,” Joseph said.
“If he's deported, I could maybe even toy with the idea of considering forgiveness. But if he's not deported, then we're going to be even more hurt and I don't think I'll ever get to that place.”
Greene said his client has not sought parole and was only moved from medium security to minimum security at the end of August.
Either way, the lawyer said, Sidhu wouldn't be leaving the country immediately.
“There are other processes and he's not getting on a plane any time soon, even if they decide that's what they want to do.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2021
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.