A sentencing hearing for a Calgary truck driver who was involved in a deadly crash with the Humboldt Broncos team bus last April started in a Saskatchewan court on Monday.
On April 6, the Humboldt Broncos bus and a transport truck collided on a Saskatchewan highway killing 16 people and injuring 13 others.
The driver of the truck, Jaskirat Sidhu, 30, was charged with dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Sidhu pleaded guilty to all 29 counts of dangerous driving, earlier this month.
His lawyer said Sidhu took responsibility for the crash to avoid a trial and more hurt for the victims and their families.
Sidhu faces a maximum sentence of 14 years for each charge of dangerous driving causing death and 10 years for dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Sidhu was going between 86 and 96 km/h when he drove through a stop sign and into the intersection north of Tisdale last April.
The bus was travelling at a speed between 96 and 107 km/h and the driver applied the brakes but was unable to stop in time and the bus T-boned the truck.
The document says that there was no way the driver of the bus, Glen Doerksen, could have avoided the collision.
It was also noted that there was an 'oversized' stop sign attached to the light standard on the north shoulder of Highway 35 and that there was also a flashing red 'traffic' light on the pole above the stop sign.
It was determined that Sidhu's actions caused the collision and that alcohol, drugs and distracted driving were not factors in the crash.
The family of Logan Boulet from Lethbridge made an emotional statement on Monday morning.
Bernadine Boulet said she struggles with the fact that her 21-year-old son will not be coming home again.
"I am constantly surrounded by reminders of Logan. Many of them make me smile and remember my amazing, teasing, kind son," she said. "But often it's the little things that are the most difficult and my chest aches, my throat constricts and tears fill my eyes."
Ryan Straschnitzki was paralyzed from the chest down in the crash and spent nearly two weeks in hospital in Saskatoon before he was moved to Calgary to continue treatment.
His mother Michelle told the court she has empathy for Sidhu but that the crash should not have happened.
In her statement she said, “We are broken now and it’s not over for us.”
Five days have been set aside for the hearing and 65 of the 75 victim impact statements received by the court will be read during the proceedings.
The owner of the Calgary trucking company that hired Sidhu was also charged after the crash.
Sukhmander Singh of Adesh Deol Trucking is facing eight charges relating to non-compliance with federal and provincial safety regulations.
He is scheduled to be in court on February 4, 2019.
(With files from The Canadian Press and @KatherineCTV)
Agreed Statement of Facts - R. v. Sidhu
