Community lauded year after fatal bus crash
HUMBOLDT, Saskatchewan — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday lauded the “courage and professionalism” of first responders and the resilience of the community a year after the fatal bus crash of a junior hockey team.
He said in a statement that while “we cannot forget pictures of the wreckage” that shook all of Canada “what will stay in our hearts forever are images of compassion and strength.”
Trudeau noted the examples of “players clasping hands, united, in the hospital ward; young men learning to stand, walk and take to the ice again,” and “hockey sticks leaned up against thousands of Canadian front doors.”
A memorial service was to be held in the Humboldt arena to remember the 16 people killed and 13 injured. The Humboldt Broncos bus collided with a semi driven by a novice trucker who ran a stop sign at a rural intersection.
The truck driver, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, was sentenced March 22 to eight years in prison. Sidhu had pleaded guilty earlier this year to 29 counts of dangerous driving.
At a sentencing hearing in January, it was made known that Sidhu was going 53 mph to 60 mph when he passed four signs warning him about the upcoming intersection and approached an oversized stop sign with a flashing light.
Judge Inez Cardinal said at sentencing that “Mr. Sidhu had ample time to react ... had he been paying attention.”
The judge said the hockey players who died were gifted athletes, while others on the bus were dreaming about families or had already started them.
“Families have been torn apart because of the loss,” Cardinal said. “They are prone to depression, anxiety or outbursts.”
She also spoke of the survivors, who she said “are putting on a brave face in an attempt to be strong.”