The decision on whether a former truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus accident should be deported to India will likely not be made until the new year.
A lawyer for Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 33, had submitted a large amount of paperwork to the Canada Border Services Agency earlier this year arguing why he should be allowed to remain in Canada once his sentence has been served.
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Sidhu was sentenced to eight years after pleading guilty to dangerous driving that caused death and bodily injury in the April 2018 collision that killed 16 people and injured 13.
Court was told that Sidhu, a newly married permanent resident, had missed a stop sign at a rural Saskatchewan intersection and got in the way of the Broncos bus taking players and staff to a game of youth hockey league playoffs.
The Canada Border Services Agency will write a report recommending whether you will be allowed to remain in your adopted country or be deported. The deadline for submitting documentation was November 28, but it was delayed a month.
“Since it has been so long since we made our original submissions, they wanted to give us the opportunity to update our information with anything new before making a decision,” said Calgary immigration attorney Michael Greene in an interview with The Canadian. Press.
Greene said there isn’t a lot of new information to submit, but he wants to be thorough and has requested some updated correctional reports.
“The psychologist will pay another visit (to Sidhu) just to see if there have been any changes in his mental health that may affect his report,” he said.
“We’re confident that we came up with a very strong package in the first place, but on the other hand, it’s a tough decision and we don’t want to go back and say, ‘Oh, we missed something that we should have had in there.'”
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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, was killed in the accident.
“I know for a fact that (Sidhu) will never drive a semitrailer again. I know for a fact that if I could retract what happened that day, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’d trade places with any of those guys, ”Thomas said earlier this year.
Greene said he is surprised by the positive comments in the case, especially after his client spoke to some media outlets to tell his story.
“It’s difficult because I think most Canadians felt genuine pain and anguish for the victims and I expected that to result in a lot of anger, and surprisingly that has not been the case,” Greene said.
“This never leaves (Sidhu), so he is struggling with his own post-traumatic stress disorder, as are many people who have been touched by this. He’s … really committed to getting 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 calling for Sidhu’s deportation. He said it’s the law and laws exist for a reason.
“I can appreciate how 29 families may feel different about him but, in my opinion, the deportation issue 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 you are deported, maybe you could even play with the idea of considering forgiveness. But if he is not deported, we will hurt ourselves even more and I don’t think he will ever get there. “
Greene said his client has not applied for parole and was only moved from medium security to minimal security in late August.
Either way, the lawyer said, Sidhu would not leave the country immediately.
“There are other processes and he will not get on a plane any time soon, even if they decide that is what they want to do.”
© 2021 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca