Eight years in prison for driver in Humboldt crash
Jaskirat Singh Sidhu handed longest sentence for dangerous driving in Canadian history,
MELFORT, SASK.— Jaskirat Singh Sidhu has been handed the longest sentence for dangerous driving in Canadian history, after his semi truck ran through a stop sign on a Saskatchewan highway and crashed into the bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team in April, killing 16 and injuring 13 others.
“No sentence I will impose will make the victims or the families whole again,” said Justice Inez Cardinal, before delivering her sentence in Melfort, Sask., on Friday.
Cardinal sentenced Sidhu to eight years in prison for each count of dangerous driving causing death, and five years for each of the 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. However, the sentences will be served concurrently, meaning he’ll spend eight years behind bars.
As Sidhu is a permanent resident and not a Canadian citizen, he will also face deportation. Cardinal said a lengthy prison sentence was necessary to send a message of deterrence to Sidhu and other drivers.
“We must stop this carnage on our highways,” Cardinal said.
Sidhu pleaded guilty to all 29 charges and, during his sentencing hearings at the end of January, turned to face family and friends of the victims gathered in the gallery to apologize.
“I take full responsibility of what has happened,” Sidhu said. “It happened because of my lack of experience and I am so, so, so, so sorry.”
Cardinal said these were significant mitigating factors that served to spare Sidhu from serving the maximum sentences allowable under the law, which at the time of the collision was 14 years for dangerous driving causing death and 10 years for dangerous driving causing bodily harm, but the gravity of the harm caused by Sidhu’s actions could not be ignored.
“Seconds matter, attention to the roads matter,” said Cardinal.
Before her sentence, Cardinal summarized the 90 victim impact statements that had been read and filed by the loved ones of those killed and injured in the crash. “I want all of the victims and their families to know their voices have been heard,” Cardinal said. Audible sobs could be heard from the gallery as she read aloud the names of the dead and injured.
“Families have been torn apart by their loss,” Cardinal said.
The sentence was greeted by mixed reactions from the friends and family of those killed and injured in the April 6 crash, but all involved acknowledged no sentence could ease the pain of their loss.
“We are disappointed,” said Chris Joseph, father of Jaxon Joseph, 20, who died in the crash. “We knew we were going to be disappointed coming in, but we thought Judge Cardinal was very professional, very prepared and I think she came back with a number that was probably the best for all the parties.”
“Nothing is going to bring anybody back, nothing is going to change the injuries that the boys had on that day. It doesn’t really change anything,” said Mark Dahlgren, father of Kaleb Dahlgren, 20, who suffered a broken skull, cracks in the vertebrae of his neck and spine and a brain injury in the collision. “I hope Mr. Sidhu thinks about what happened and I hope it is a message to the trucking industry that it’s not OK to wheel those big rigs down the highways with disregard for the rules of the road.”
Both the Crown and the defence acknowledged Cardinal had a difficult task in meting out a just sentence because there has been no case like this in Canada.
“There is no sentencing precedent in Canada for a case like this,” said Crown prosecutor Thomas Healey after Cardinal delivered her sentence.
Before Sidhu’s sentencing, the longest prison term handed down for a dangerous driving conviction was six years. In that case, Quebec truck driver Mohinder Singh Saini was convicted of four counts of dangerous driving causing death and nine counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm after causing a 2015 multi-vehicle crash that killed four people and injured 11 others when he sped through a construction zone on an Ontario highway.
“The Crown trusts that this sentence will send a very strong message to everyone using our highways, that message is criminal driving will not be tolerated. As we have all seen, when drivers take risks on the road, as was done in this case, the consequences can be catastrophic. This must stop,” Healey said.
Court heard the truck Sidhu was driving blew through a stop sign at the rural Saskatchewan intersection of Hwy. 35 and Hwy. 335 at about 5 p.m.
According to an RCMP forensic collision report, Sidhu drove past four signs that would have warned him an intersection was coming up before running straight through the intersection, which was marked with an oversized stop sign with a flashing red light.
The weather was clear and the flat prairie landscape makes the intersection plainly visible from a distance. Sidhu could not offer any explanation as to why he did not recognize the signs or even attempt to stop or slow his truck, which was hauling two heavy trailers stacked with 900 bales of peat moss.
“This was not a momentary lapse of attention,” said Cardinal, adding with all of the warnings leading up to the intersection, “he had ample time to stop his unit and avoid the collision.”
At the same time, the Humboldt Broncos bus was travelling northbound on Hwy. 35.
The bus driver slammed hard on the brakes, skidding for 24 metres, but it was too late.
According to the RCMP’s report on the collision, the bus hit the side of the semi at approximately 100 km/h. The driver of the bus reacted as quickly as possible, court heard, but there was no way for the bus to have avoided the crash.
The bus was ripped into three pieces. The front third of the bus and the entire roof were torn from the frame, the condition of the front of the bus described coldly in the RCMP forensic collision reconstruction report as “non survivable.”
The scale of the devastation caused and the carelessness Sidhu displayed towards road safety were aggravating factors, and Cardinal said she hoped the record-setting sentence would encourage all drivers to take road safety more seriously.
“Professional drivers are held to a higher standard, and you need to follow those standards. In this case, remorse is one thing, and we do believe, my wife and I, that Mr. Sidhu is remorseful, but the bottom line is that he was negligent and caused the death of my son and the death of 15 other people,” said Toby Boulet, father of Logan Boulet, 20.
Once united by their grief, families and friends of those killed and injured are banding together in advocating for change.
“We’re not done, we’re all in,” Toby Boulet said.
In honour of Logan Boulet, who donated his organs saving six lives and inspiring more than a hundred thousand people across Canada to sign up for the organ donation registry, Canadian organ and tissue donation advocates are hosting Green Shirt Day.
On April 7, Canadians are being encouraged to wear green in memory of Boulet and to raise awareness of the need for blood and organ donors.
Others are working to create changes to improve road safety.