Details expected soon on ‘meaningful’ changes to trucking regulations
Alberta’s transportation minister says the province is still working on an overhaul of Alberta’s trucking licensing regulations in the wake of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.
At a press conference on Friday, Transportation Minister Brian Mason said the province had been looking at mandatory driver training requirements long before the April 6 collision that killed 16 people and left another 13 injured.
The statement came just hours after RCMP in Saskatchewan announced charges have been laid against Jaskirat Sidhu, a 29-yearold man from Calgary who police say was behind the wheel of a tandem big rig when it collided with the Humboldt Broncos’ team bus at the intersection of Highway 335 and Highway 35 near Nipawin, Sask.
Mason said there is no firm timeline for when the mandatory training program will come into effect, but added there will be more details on the potential changes in the next few weeks.
“We will be announcing a number of measure very shortly that we have been working on at an accelerated pace, in light of the tragedy,” Mason said in Calgary on Friday.
He said the province is looking at “significant and meaningful changes” to the province’s “qualifications and training of drivers of large vehicles on our highways, how we deal with the examinations of drivers for all categories of licence, and how we regulate the trucking industry itself.”
Mason said he ordered a review of intersection safety on Alberta highways following the Humboldt crash, adding the review findings will also be announced in coming weeks.
Ontario introduced mandatory entry-level driving regulations last year requiring all drivers to complete a minimum 103.5 hours of training before they can take a semi-truck out for a road test.
Similar regulations will be coming to Saskatchewan next year, with Saskatchewan Government Insurance saying the curriculum will include at least 70 hours of training in the classroom, yard and behind the wheel.
Transport Canada said each province and territory is responsible for “driver licensing, vehicle inspections, and the enforcement of federal and provincial requirements.”
Sidhu has been charged with 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.
Sidhu was arrested Friday without incident at his residence in Calgary. He was remanded and is scheduled to appear next week in an Saskatchewan court that’s yet to be identified.
Sukhmander Singh, Sidhu’s former employer and owner of Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd., declined to comment on Sighu’s arrest or the charges.
A house guest of Singh’s said the trucking company owner and his family only learned of the arrest and charges against Sidhu through the media.
Singh told Postmedia Sidhu only worked for his company for “about a month” before the fatal crash.
Alberta Transportation suspended Adesh Deol Trucking’s safety certificate following the crash. The ministry confirmed the company is still under suspension and “will remain suspended for the foreseeable future.”
The father of injured Broncos player Graysen Cameron, 18, who suffered back injuries in the crash, said the three-month wait for charges to be laid didn’t bother him.
“I’m happy they took their time and did it right,” said Tyler Cameron of Olds, Alta., adding his family had little more to say. “We’ll let the RCMP and the courts now do their jobs.”
The number and types of charges, said Cameron, were “appropriate.”