Driver in Broncos crash hopes to stay in Canada

A former truck driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash has submitted paperwork with reasons why he should not be sent back to India when he gets out of prison.

Jaskirat Singh Sidhu is now waiting for the Canada Border Services Agency to write a report that will recommend whether he will be allowed to stay in his adopted country or be deported.

A grieving father of one of the hockey players killed will be waiting, too.

Scott Thomas said he aches every day for his 18-year-old son, Evan, but submitted a letter in support of Sidhu.

“I know for a fact that he'll never drive a semi again. I know for a fact that if he could take back what happened that day he would in a heartbeat. He would trade places with any one of those boys,” said Thomas.

Sidhu was sentenced almost two years ago to eight years after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm 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 driven into the path of the Broncos bus carrying players and staff to a junior hockey league playoff game.

The lawyer for the then-30year-old Sidhu said during sentencing arguments that jail time would mean the commerce graduate wouldn't be allowed to stay in Canada, where he has lived since following his partner, who had come over in 2013.

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

An immigration lawyer said Sidhu's bid has the makings of other cases where deportation was avoided.

“It's very difficult to say how it's going to go, but I do think this is one of those types of cases where (border services) could choose to exercise their discretion — given the exceptional circumstances,” said Erica Olmstead, an immigration lawyer, who's not representing Sidhu.

Lawyer Michael Greene, who is working with Sidhu, said last year his client has no prior criminal history, is well-educated, fluent in English and remorseful.

He acknowledged Sidhu's crime had catastrophic consequences but added his actions were not malicious.

Thomas said he's more concerned about regulations that allowed the inexperienced truck driver to get behind the wheel.