The driver who caused the deadly Humboldt Broncos bus crash in Saskatchewan that killed 16 people has been given a reprieve as he fights to stay in Canada.
The Federal Court agreed this week to review a Canada Border Services Agency decision to send Jaskirat Singh Sidhu’s case to a government tribunal for an inadmissibility hearing that would have taken him one step closer to being deported.
“My clients are happy that at least they’re going to get to argue the case in court,” Sidhu’s lawyer Michael Greene told the Star on Wednesday. “A Federal Court judge is saying that there is an arguable case here, so that’s some validation.
“They agreed to hearour application to send the case back for a redetermination because it was flawed. We said the process was flawed and the decision itself was unreasonable.”
Sidhu was behind the wheel on April 6, 2018, when his semi-truck collided with a bus carrying the junior hockey team and others after he failed to stop at a highway intersection near Nipawin, Sask. Of the 29 people on the bus, 16 died and 13 suffered serious injuries.
About a month before the accident, the former international student had obtained his permanent residence status in Canada after marrying his longtime girlfriend in a wedding in India and returning home to Calgary.
Sidhu would plead guilty to all 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and another 13 counts for causing bodily injury, and he did not appeal. The now 34-year-old was sentenced to eight years in jail and released on day parole last summer.
But back in 2020, CBSA had already initiated his removal from this country by giving notice that it was considering an inadmissibility report against him for serious criminality. In early 2022, it recommended to the immigration tribunal that he be designated inadmissible and removed from Canada.
The law stipulates that a permanent resident is deemed inadmissible if the person has been convicted of an offence punishable by a maximum term of at least 10 years in jail or a term of more than six months has been imposed.
“The subject’s criminal convictions are extremely serious,” Curtis Barry, a CBSA manager in Edmonton, wrote in a report Feb. 26, 2022. “The loss of life, level of bodily harm, and collateral grief are catastrophic. I give great weight to the seriousness of these offenses.
“I acknowledge that he is remorseful, holds himself responsible and as such rehabilitation is likely, however, this is only one factor that must be considered.”
If the tribunal ruled Sidhu inadmissible, he would have automatically lost his permanent residence with no right to appeal, and face deportation and a lifetime ban from returning to Canada.
Greene said the immigration tribunal has very limited discretion and mostly bases its decision on whether the person is a citizen and if the sentence is more than the six-month threshold.
For someone with a sentence of longer than six months, the only chance to maintain permanent residence is to convince CBSA not to pursue the case, Greene said.
Last year, Greene challenged the CBSA decision at the Federal Court, claiming it was unfair and unreasonable. He wanted his client’s case to be assigned to another CBSA officer for re-determination if the court decides there’s merit to the claim.
“There should be an evaluation when somebody commits a serious offence of whether they should have continued rights to stay in Canada. It’s fair to have that kind of evaluation,” Greene said.
“But the process we have now was put into an enforcement department that has a culture of enforcing the law and effecting deportation.”
In his pleadings, Sidhu claimed the CBSA report was procedurally unfair, alleging that it relied in part on extrinsic evidence that had not been disclosed to his counsel despite repeated requests, including the unsolicited letters of public opinion submitted to CBSA.
In his submission to CBSA, Greene acknowledged it was an extremely difficult case because of the tremendous harm suffered by the victims and their families on the one hand and, on the other, an individual with an otherwise impeccable record whose offence arose from no malicious intention.
“As he has been punished for his crime by the criminal justice system, no purpose other than retribution would be served by effectively punishing him again through deportation,” Greene wrote in a pleading to CBSA to reconsider the decision.
Sidhu’s court challenge claimed that the CBSA officer and the public safety minister wrongfully equated public safety with punishment for past behaviour rather than conducting a forward-looking assessment of whether the applicant poses a present or future risk to the public.
“He has not a criminal history where quite often in these cases you’ve got somebody who’s got a long criminal history that’s getting increasingly more serious and violent,” Greene said in an interview.
In its response, the government said the case arose out of “a national tragedy” and presented a “challenging task” for the CBSA officer and minister.
However, it maintained that the conclusion was reasonable.
“Given the importance of public safety and security in such matters and the very limited discretion afforded to … decision-makers as to humanitarian and compassionate considerations, referring the matter to the Immigration Division (tribunal) constituted a reasonable finding,” the court was told.
The government also said there is no obligation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the CBSA officer and the minister to consider humanitarian factors beyond confirming the mere fact of offence and conviction.
It pointed out that the officer actually went above and beyond by devoting eight pages of his reasons to the discussion of the facts and the various humanitarian factors Sidhu put forward.
“The applicant has no basis to quarrel with the scope of discretion afforded to him,” the government said in its submission.
A hearing is scheduled for July 13.
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