The deportation order is entirely reasonable but seems inconsistent with the ten-year license suspension and firearm ban after release. Why would these bans be imposed by the same judge who made the deportation decision?
The judge doesn’t decide on deportation. The driving prohibition and firearms ban are pretty much automatic under the Criminal Code and the sentencing judge has to impose it.
The deportation order isn’t made under the Criminal Code and hasn’t actually been made. The sentencing judge doesn’t have authority to order deportation and she didn’t make a deportation order.
The federal immigration authorities will make that order when he comes up for release from prison.
ETA: the judge doesn’t have authority to suspend a driver’s licence. That’s a provincial matter. Rather, she prohibited from driving for 10 years, as part of his sentence under the Criminal Code.
I’ve been meaning to post some updates but thought it best to wait until after the court case was done.
First, last September: remember the billet mom who thought she’d lost all three of his billet sons, and then after a few days it turned out one had survived? She wasn’t sure a year ago if they could bear to have another set of billets. But come September, she and her husband and her two daughters had talked it out, and offered to billet two more Broncos:
And remember Kelsey Fiddler, the woman who was stopped at the intersection, with her two young sons, and the three of them saw the entire accident? She was pregnant, and as she was trying to help, she started to have contractions. She turned down an ambulance and drove herself to the nearest hospital, because ‘the boys’ needed the ambulances more than she did.
Her baby was born two months later, nice and healthy. Inspired by Logan Boulet, the player who had signed an organ donor card on his 18th birthday, and whose organs went to six different people, Ms Fiddler asked his parents for permission to name her daughter after him: Logan Humble Strong.
Then there was the coach’s widow. She was also the secretary for the Broncos, but after the accident she decided she had to pull back from that position - just too gut-wrenching to be working where her husband had been.
There were bits of news during the fall. For instance, of the three players who came back to the Broncos and played in the new season, one left after about a month. He said it was important for him to come back and play, but then he had to take time away. Probably both smart decisions on his part: Humboldt Broncos player who returned to team in November steps away to recover at home.
And while those things were happening, there was the court case. There were the normal appearances, and the families were uncertain what would happen, and were gearing up for a long and stressful trial.
And then there was the sentencing hearing. About 90 victim impact statements were delivered; some read by the family members; others submitted to the Court because they said it was just too hard to read them out loud. The local media published them. I read some, but they were heart-wrenching, so I stopped.
But an interesting thing at the sentencing hearing. The very first statement was from the widow of the head coach:
And that was one of the most striking things about the hearing: some parents, quite naturally, were angry and wanted a long sentence, saying they couldn’t forgive him. And yet, many others said that they had to forgive, to be able to move on:
And then there was Scott Thomas, the father of one of the players who was killed. He was one of the first on the scene, and knew right away his son was dead; rookies like his son ride in the front of the bus, which was simply gone.
He was in Court the day of the sudden guilty plea:
And yet, he also commented a few times that he really wanted to hear from Mr Sidhu what happened, and said that someday, he hoped he could talk to him.
And then, after the sentencing, an interesting news report that summed up the reactions from the families. There were those who wanted a very long sentence, but that was not universal:
And the final statement, from Mr Sidhu’s uncle:
How often do you hear the family of the accused thanking the families of the victims for the compassion they have shown to the accused?
I know this sounds corny but I mean it… Those people seem like the best of humanity. Having room for passion and forgiveness in your heart after so much suffering is one of the hardest but most generous things a person can possibly do.
The federal immigration authorities have ordered that Mr Sidhu be deported, because of the crime he committed and pled guilty to.
Mr Sidhu is challenging that in the Federal Court. He would like to stay in Canada.
The Federal Court recently rejected his application for judicial review of the immigration decision, but noted that he could apply to the Minister of Immigration for permission to remain on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
