Deportation hearing today for truck driver responsible for deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash

The truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash is scheduled to learn Friday whether he will be deported to India.

A lawyer for Jaskirat Singh Sidhu says he expects the hearing in front of federal immigration officials to be short, as the rules are clear with little flexibility.

“It’s pretty open and shut,” Michael Greene said in an interview.

“There’s nothing to contest, so those are as clear as day. These hearings are usually done lickety-split.”

Sidhu, a rookie truck driver from Calgary, barrelled through a stop sign and into the path of the junior hockey team’s bus at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Saskatchewan, in 2018. Sixteen people on the bus were killed and 13 were injured.

Sidhu pleaded guilty to dangerous driving offences and was sentenced to eight years in prison.He was granted full parole last year.

A criminal conviction that carries a sentence of more than six months makes a permanent resident ineligible to remain in the country. Sidhu landed in Canada as a permanent resident in 2014.

Two years ago, the Canada Border Services Agency recommended deportation, and Greene went to court to fight it.

In December, the Federal Court dismissed applications from Greene, who had argued border officials didn’t consider Sidhu’s previously clean criminal record and remorse. He wanted the court to order the border agency to conduct a second review.

“This is part of the sadness of the whole process. We’re left with a situation where permanent residents have no rights whatsoever to have their personal circumstances considered,” Greene said. “Our only mechanism is [that] after he’s ordered deported, we’re going to ask them to give back his [permanent resident] status [based] on humanitarian grounds.

“But in the meantime, he has no status.”

Greene said Sidhu won’t immediately be taken into custody after the hearing is over.

He said a pre-removal risk assessment has to be conducted and Sidhu can also ask for a deferral while his request for permanent resident status is considered.

The process, Greene said, could take months or years.

Several family members of those killed in the crash have said they want Sidhu deported.