The truck driver at the centre of the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash will face the first day of his deportation hearing Friday.
Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, a rookie Calgary trucker and newly married permanent resident from India, barreled through a stop sign at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask. in April 2018 and drove into the path of the bus carrying the junior hockey team to a playoff game.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison for causing the crash that killed 16 people and injured 13 others after pleading guilty to dangerous driving charges.
Sidhu was granted full parole last year.
His lawyer, Michael Greene, is certain is certain the deportation will be granted, even if it takes years.
But, Friday’s hearing will likely be short.
“[They] just have to prove that he’s not a citizen, he’s a permanent resident, and that he’s been convicted of an offence that should draw a maximum of 10 years or more,” Green said. “There’s nothing to contest because they’re clear as day.
“These hearings are usually done lickety-split, but that’s the sadness of the whole process is that there is no opportunity — right now the way the law stands — there is no opportunity for a permanent resident to make submissions as to why they should not be deported,” he added.
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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.
“My only mechanism is after he’s ordered deported, then I can ask them to give him back his status on humanitarian grounds,” Green said. “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.
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