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A Regina judge dismissed a lawsuit launched by families of five people who died in the Humboldt Broncos crash, saying provincial laws don’t violate their charter rights to sue the Saskatchewan government.
In a Dec. 16 written decision, King’s Bench Court Judge Graeme Mitchell dismissed the lawsuit initially filed in July 2018, just months after a semi-truck went through a stop sign and collided with the junior hockey team’s bus, killing 16 people.
The families of five victims — Jaxon Joseph, 20, of St. Albert, Alta.; Logan Hunter, 18, of St. Albert; Jacob Leicht, 19, of Humboldt, Sask.; and Adam Herold, 16, of Montmartre, Sask.; and assistant coach Mark Cross, 27, of Strasbourg, Sask. — alleged the province knew the rural intersection where the crash happened had visibility problems but did nothing to fix it.
The families had amended their statement of claim in August 2023 to argue that provisions in the provincial Automobile Accident Insurance Act (AAIA), The Fatal Accidents Act (FAA), and The Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA) unconstitutionally prevent them from suing for claims for negligence.
“They assert that these provisions remove their ability to sue Saskatchewan and hold it accountable for the faulty design, construction, and maintenance of Armley Corner, the intersection of Highways 35 and 335 where the fatal collision occurred,” Mitchell wrote in his decision.
Mitchell said the plaintiffs failed to prove how the provisions violate their rights under sections 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The suit also named the bus manufacturer MCIL, the truck driver and ADT, the Calgary-based company that employed the trucker.
Sixteen people were killed and 13 were injured when semi-truck driver Jaskirat Singh Sidhu went through a stop sign and into the path of the junior hockey team’s bus at a rural intersection near Tisdale, Sask., in 2018.
Sidhu was sentenced to eight years in prison for dangerous driving offences and was ordered to be deported to India.
The government had asked to be struck from the suit because Saskatchewan has no-fault insurance, which means a person receives comprehensive benefits no matter who’s responsible for a collision, but the right to sue for pain and suffering is limited.
Mitchell’s decision did not allow the plaintiffs to amend their statement of claim arguments and awarded costs to the defendants.