Murray Wood: Conservative floor crossers could hand Mark Carney a majority government
Murray Wood says Prime Minister Mark Carney is happily accepting floor crossers from the Conservatives, but maybe it's t...
The case of the semi driver who caused the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in April of 2018 returned to court Wednesday, but this time it could determine if he can stay in Canada.
The Federal Court in Calgary started hearing arguments about the possible deportation to India of Jaskirat Singh Sidhu.
In 2019, Sidhu was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to 16 charges of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in the wake of the April 2018 crash.
The Broncos were on their way to an SJHL playoff game in Nipawin when their bus collided with a semi at a rural intersection near Tisdale. The semi drove through a stop sign and into the path of the bus.
Sixteen people on the bus died as a result of the crash and 13 others were injured.
Sidhu’s lawyer, Michael Greene, previously told The Canadian Press that if his argument in Federal Court is successful, the matter would be sent back to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for another review.
Sidhu was granted day parole for six months in July of 2022. He got full parole after following conditions set out by the Parole Board of Canada and, according to Greene, is now working in Calgary.
According to a story by The Canadian Press, it’s unlikely the Federal Court will issue a decision on the matter Wednesday.
Sidhu has been fighting to stay in Canada for the past few years. In 2021, Greene sent an application to the CBSA on Sidhu’s behalf, asking that his client be allowed to remain in the country following the conclusion of his prison sentence.
The CBSA recommended last year that Sidhu be handed over to the Immigration and Refugee Board to decide whether he should be deported.
The decision over Sidhu’s future in Canada has been greeted with mixed reactions by the families of the Broncos’ players and staff, with some saying Sidhu should be deported and others suggesting he should be allowed to stay in his adopted home country.
“I’m hoping that people in the public, just like the (border agency) officers, will be open to seeing the good in him,” Greene told The Canadian Press in 2020.
“(Sidhu and his wife) would like to be able to continue on the path they were on before this terrible tragedy — and that path includes being able to raise a family in Canada.”
— With files from The Canadian Press
