Some Humboldt Broncos families want to see the driver involved in the deadly crash face deportation once he finishes his sentence.
On March 3, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, who drove through a stop sign near Tisdale, Sask., and collided with the Humboldt Broncos team bus in 2018, killing 16 and injuring 13 others, was denied a bid to stay in Canada.
Sidhu, who was driving the semi-truck and failed to yield at a flashing stop sign, pleaded guilty in January of 2019 to 29 counts of dangerous driving causing death or bodily injury. He was sentenced to eight years for his role in the crash.
He was a permanent resident of Canada at the time. Any permanent resident convicted of more than six months in prison in a criminal matter faces deportation as part of their sentence. Sidhu is subject to deportation to India.
This was Sidhu’s first appeal to stay in the country upon his release, which Canada Border Services Agency rejected in early March. Sidhu plans to challenge the decision in federal court.
Former NHL player and St. Albert, Alberta resident Chris Joseph, whose son Jaxon died in the crash on April 6, 2018, said he hopes the ruling is upheld in court.
Jaxon was one of four boys connected to St. Albert who passed away in the crash. Logan Hunter, Stephen Wack, and Conner Lukan also died as a result of the crash near Tisdale, Sask.
“The main reason for us wanting this is just having to go through this kind of stuff, is it's hard,” Joseph said.
“Our hope would be that people would just let the lawmakers do what they do.”
Every time there is a decision or news on Sidhu or the crash, the family has to relive the trauma of the event and the death of their son, including Sidhu's fight to stay in the country.
“It's tough. It's difficult. We have to go through more trauma every time. One of our main reasons is we feel that [him being forced to leave the country] would be one thing off our plate that we wouldn’t have to worry about anymore and that would make our day-to-day just a little bit easier,” Joseph said.
The dad said one of the things that makes Canada great is that it is a fair and just country with good laws and there are consequences for actions.
And making the situation even more difficult is that people are trying to make his family feel bad for holding that opinion, Joseph said.
“It’s again more trauma because we are being judged for having feelings about a man that unnecessarily killed our child.”
Shauna Nordstrom, Hunter’s mother, said in an email to The Gazette, the government has spoken and she fully supports the decision and the justice being served to Sidhu.
“March is a super tough month, thinking back four years ago, going to watch Logan in the playoffs in Humboldt, all the excitement and the joy he had for life,” Nordstrom said.
“I will be forever grateful to have made all those trips to Saskatchewan.”
Joseph said he has imagined many times driving around St. Albert and being stopped at a red light, looking next to him, and imagined seeing Sidhu with his wife and kids in the back seat smiling.
The father said he knows Sidhu said he wants to stay in Canada, but no matter where he goes, people will know who he is.
“People are going to want to hear from him and he’s going to have to go through this trauma again as well and so are the 16 families that lost somebody and the 13 that were injured,” Joseph said.
“I think life would be a little bit easier if none of us had to deal with that stuff.”
The Wack family declined to comment on the matter.
