Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, a truck driver of Indian descent who was responsible for the fatal Humboldt Broncos bus accident, lost his appeal against being deported to India, according to CBC News in Canada.
On Thursday, the truck driver entered a guilty plea to the charges of driving dangerously, and the judge denied his applications. Sidhu was unable to secure a stay in Canada. Thirteen people were injured and sixteen people died in the crash.
Prior to the crash, Sidhu had worked for less than a month before receiving an eight-year prison sentence. On April 6, 2018, a collision happened close to Armley, Saskatchewan, at the intersection of Saskatchewan Highway 35 and Saskatchewan Highway 335.
Sidhu, a recently married permanent resident, reportedly ran a stop sign at a rural intersection close to Tisdale, Saskatchewan, and ended up in the path of the bus transporting the junior hockey team to a playoff game, according to CBC News.
Sidhu was recommended for deportation by the Canada Border Services Agency, but he was granted parole earlier this year.
Michael Greene, Sidhu’s attorney, contended before the Federal Court in September that border services officials failed to take into account Sidhu’s contrition and prior spotless criminal record.
Greene also asked for an order to set aside the decision and require the agency to reevaluate the case.
“The facts underlying Sidhu’s applications to this court were devastating for everyone involved. Many lives were lost, others were torn apart, and many hopes and dreams were shattered,” Chief Justice Paul Crampton wrote in his decision.
“Unfortunately, nothing this court decides can change much of those truly tragic consequences,” he added.
Crampton said border officials were fair in their assessment and addressed both Sidhu’s record and “extraordinary degree of genuine, heart-wrenching remorse,” CBC News reported.
“The officer’s decision was appropriately justified, transparent and intelligible,” Crampton wrote. “It also reflected an internally coherent and rational chain of analysis and meaningfully engaged with the key issues raised by Sidhu.”
The Chief Justice said that Sidhu now faces deportation to India after spending years of hard work establishing a life with his wife in Canada, CBC News reported.
But he also said Sidhu could still request permission to remain for humanitarian and compassionate reasons.
In response to Sidhu’s deportation, the families of those slain in the deadly attack approximately five years ago have provided feedback.
Moving forward doesn’t mean Sidhu must remain in prison, but Toby Boulet, whose 21-year-old son Logan was killed in the crash, also doesn’t want him in Canada.
“We have no ill feelings towards the man–we just don’t want to see him ever again,” Boulet stated. “We hope not to encounter him. We wish to avoid a genuine incidental death involving the gentleman. We want him gone, and in this case, that means deported.”