The Immigration and Refugee Board issued a deportation order in May for Jaskirat Singh Sidhu and his permanent resident status was revoked.

Sidhu is from India and arrived in Canada in 2014.

In 2018, while living in Calgary, the rookie truck driver barrelled through a stop sign and into the path of the junior hockey team’s bus at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask. 

Sixteen people on the bus were killed and 13 were injured. 

Sidhu plead guilty to dangerous driving offences and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was granted full parole last year. 

Lawyer Michael Greene says his client has applied to regain permanent resident status on humanitarian grounds.

“The test is what would a reasonable person want to relieve the misfortunes of this individual,” Greene said.

“Now, it’s against the horrific nature of the consequences of his mistake. He pretty much has everything else going for him in terms of humanitarian grounds.”

Greene said he likely won’t to hear anything about the application for several months, and the application will likely take up to two years to process.

“They look at how well he’s established in Canada, what kind of family ties and community ties. They look at the best interests of the child,” Greene said.

Sidhu and his wife have one-year-old with severe heart and lung complications. 

“In this case, it really makes a difference. It would be very difficult for that child to live in India with his health conditions. So the best interests of the child is a big issue for him.”

Several family members of those killed in the crash have said they want Sidhu deported. Others have called for him to be allowed to stay.

The Reconciliation Action Group in Calgary has extended its support to Sidhu.

“The Reconciliation Action Group stands against his deportation that is based on racial biases. Mr. Sidhu has a Canadian wife and Canadian-born child with health issues and his deportation will harm them,” the organization said in a statement.

Calgary MP George Chahal is also asking federal politicians to block the deportation, saying Sidhu has served his time for the tragic accident.

Former federal Conservative leader Erin O’Toole tweeted in December that Sidhu’s deportation will not heal those hurt by the crash.

“I have long believed that he deserved to be granted (permanent residency) on compassionate grounds and I say that respectful of the families who will forever grieve,” O’Toole said.

Lawyer Michael Greene said Monday the hearing for his client Jaskirat Singh Sidhu is to be held May 24.

“It was an inevitability. I mean, the (immigration) minister could always decide not to go ahead with it, but it doesn’t seem to be happening at this point anyway,” Greene said in an interview.

“There’s nothing to contest. You’re convicted or you’re not. All they have to establish is he’s not a citizen and that he was convicted.”

Sidhu was sentenced to eight years in prison for causing the 2018 crash in Saskatchewan that killed 16 people and injured 13 others. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving charges.

The rookie Calgary trucker, a newly married permanent resident from India, barrelled through a stop sign at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask., and drove into the path of the bus carrying the junior hockey team to a playoff game. 

Sidhu was granted full parole last year.

In December, the Federal Court dismissed applications from Sidhu’s lawyer, who argued Canada Border Services officials didn’t consider Sidhu’s previously clean criminal record and remorse. He had asked for the agency to be ordered to conduct a second review.

Greene said the deportation hearings usually only take a few minutes. After that happens, he said the real work begins.

“Once he ceases to be a permanent resident then he can file an application on humanitarian grounds. Our goal is to do that fairly quickly,” Greene said.

“How long it takes after that is the great unknown. It could be months. It could be years.”

Greene said once a person is ordered deported, there is then a pre-removal risk assessment conducted and that usually takes a few months. He said Sidhu can also ask for a deferral while his request for permanent resident status is considered.

“The wheels of justice move slowly at times. It’s been playing out over six years now,” Greene said.

“We’re cautiously optimistic. You can’t erase the fact of the conviction and damage done.

“But everything else about him is positive and there’s a lot of community support, although there are some people who can’t and will never forgive.”

Jaskirat Singh Sidhu was sentenced to eight years in prison for causing the 2018 crash in Saskatchewan that killed 16 people and injured 13 others. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving charges. 

The rookie Calgary trucker, a newly married permanent resident, barrelled through a stop sign at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask., and drove into the path of the bus carrying the junior hockey team to a playoff game. 

Sidhu was granted parole earlier this year. The Canada Border Services Agency had recommended he be deported. 

Sidhu’s lawyer, Michael Greene, argued before Federal Court in September that border services officials didn’t consider Sidhu’s previously clean criminal record and remorse, asking for the agency to be ordered to conduct a second review.

“The facts underlying Mr. 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.” 

Crampton said border officials were fair in their assessment, and addressed both Sidhu’s record and “extraordinary degree of genuine, heart-wrenching remorse.” 

“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 Mr. Sidhu.” 

He said Sidhu now faces removal to India, after spending years of hard work establishing a life with his wife in Canada. 

The judge added that Sidhu can still ask for permanent resident status on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. 

Greene said the ruling doesn’t come as a total surprise and Sidhu was aware it was an “uphill battle” from the beginning.

The lawyer said a recent court ruling about the rights of individuals with permanent residency was the final blow.

“The Federal Court of Appeal came down with a decision in June regarding a different provision of the Immigration Act, which basically said permanent residents have no rights to have their circumstances considered before they’re deported,” he said.

“They have no more rights than a foreign national.”

Greene said Sidhu plans to apply to have his permanent resident status reinstated on humanitarian grounds.

“Now it’s the Immigration and Citizenship (Department) that will decide. It’s a different agency entirely with a different mandate and different considerations,” Greene said.

“The next step is a deportation hearing. Hopefully, the government will let him stay while that’s being considered, because they could push on and deport him in the process.”

Greene said he has met with Sidhu and Sidhu’s wife, who are disappointed but will “soldier on.”

The couple had a son in April.

“He has had a host of medical problems. He spent four months in the neonatal ICU in open heart surgery. His heart stopped beating,” Greene said.

“They have all of that to deal with on top of this (deportation).”

Toby Boulet, whose 21-year-old son, Logan, was killed in the crash, said his family understands the way it works in the criminal justice system.

“We’ve never asked for Mr. Sidhu to be locked up for 75 years to rot in jail,” he said from Lethbridge, Alta. “That’s never been our intention.”

However, Boulet said that he and his family want to move forward with their lives and that means having Sidhu go away.

“In this case, that means deportation,” he said.

Boulet said he doesn’t want to sound bitter about Sidhu having a child.

“If they had a child, that’s wonderful,” he said, “But, at the same time, he was directly responsible for 16 families not having a child anymore. So, you don’t get to just say ‘I’m sorry’ and say ‘my bad’ and then everything is good. It doesn’t work that way.”

Chris Joseph of St. Albert, Alta., whose 20-year-old son, Jaxon, was killed in the crash, had been calling for the deportation. 

“It’s the right decision and sends the right message,” Joseph said of Thursday’s ruling.

“It’s been five years of pain for our family and many other families … for all of us, it’s been ongoing pain that’s never left.” 

Michelle Straschnitzki of Airdrie, Alta., whose son Ryan was paralyzed from the chest down in the crash, said she’s glad Sidhu has been working to better his life. But it doesn’t change the effect on the Bronco families.

“The horror of the images and lives shattered doesn’t diminish with time ‘served.’ For all of us, this is a life sentence,” she said.

“We don’t have any petitions for compassion. What is done is done.”