Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, of Indian descent, was the man behind the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus accident that killed 16 Saskatchewan junior hockey players and staff and injured 13 others.
He could soon be deported to India because he has exhausted all his legal options to remain in Canada. In an exclusive interview with CBC, Sidhu said he wants to fight for his family because he will be sent back to India, but not his wife and children. Sidhu married Tanveer Mann, a nurse in Canada, months before the accident in 2018. They are now parents to a three-year-old son and a three-month-old daughter. The son was born with a rare lung disorder, and according to a CBC report, doctors told the couple that living in India’s air quality would put him at risk.
“Nobody wants to be separated from their family, you know?” Said Sidhu. “I want my husband with me. I want my children’s father with us, so he can contribute. He can see his children growing up, in all those little moments,” Sidhu’s wife said. Sidhu’s immigration lawyer, Michael Green, applied for Sidhu to remain in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, as he has young children who could be affected if Sidhu is deported.
While the CBC conducted an exclusive interview with Sidhu and his family, the National Post published an opinion piece in which the writers argued that Sidhu had “paid his debt to society” and therefore should not be deported. One of the writers is John Manley, former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada. “At worst, this was a case of catastrophic negligence. It was not an intentional act of violence. The court treated it as such, and returned a judgment that reflects the extent of the harm and lack of intent.”
“Given the driver’s extreme remorse and willingness to submit to the court’s punishment, it is time to finish his sentence and begin healing.” “Jaskirat Singh Sidhu had 70 safety violations in the 11 days before his dangerous driving. He killed 16 people and seriously injured 13 others in the Humboldt massacre. He was not legally allowed to drive the car. More toxic sympathy from legacy media,” wrote a Canadian journalist, condemning the media campaign against Sidhu’s proposed deportation. Sidhu pleaded guilty to the incident and spent four years in prison. He has been on full parole since 2023. On April 6, 2018, a double-trailer semi truck driven by Jaskirat Singh Sidhu ran through a stop sign at a rural intersection in Saskatchewan, Canada, and crashed into a bus carrying Humboldt Broncos players and staff, injuring 13 people and killing 16, most of them teenagers, including Chris Joseph’s son, Jackson.After pleading guilty and spending nearly four years in prison, Sidhu has been on full parole since 2023. However, he has continued to make headlines, fighting tooth and nail not to be deported to India.Among the victims of the accident was hockey player Jason Joseph. In an interview with Media Bezirgan, his father Chris Goodsiff said that Sidhu is not the remorseful man the media has portrayed him to be, but a “selfish” man. “Everyone told him he should be deported — the judge, the CBSA, the Immigration and Refugee Board, the federal court of appeal — and he still keeps trying, because he’s looking out for himself and doesn’t really care about anyone else,” Joseph said.
