Canadian Lawyer

10 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m S A S K A T C H E W A N SASKATCHEWAN BUS CRASH CHARGES RAISE HARD LEGAL QUESTIONS I f you stand at the junction of Saskatchewan Highways 35 and 335, you would see a stop sign with a flashing red light on Highway 335 controlling access at a slight angle to and across the generally busier Highway 35. It is an intersection like so many others in the vast, flat prairie expanse. It was here on April 6, just after 5 p.m., that a bus carrying the Humboldt Bron- cos junior hockey team to a playoff game collided with a long-distance tractor-trail- er driven by 29-year-old Jaskirat Singh Sidhu. Sidhu was a rookie truck driver from Calgary who, according to his boss, had been on the job "for about a month." Details of the collision have not been released, but what is obvious is that, at some point immediately prior to the crash, Sidhu's truck passed through that stop sign with its flashing red light and entered Highway 35. Sidhu was uninjured in the ensuing collision, but 16 people on the bus were killed and 13 others were injured. Many of the victims were teenage hockey players. Their deaths led to a nationwide outpouring of grief. In July, Sidhu was charged with 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily injury. He is free on bail. If the matter goes to trial, it is anticipated it will raise some of the difficult issues surrounding s. 249(4), the dangerous driving causing death section, of the Criminal Code. The Crown, perhaps recognizing the challenges it faces, only laid charges after an investigation that included dozens of experts, extensive interviews of more than 60 people and a collision re-enactment. RCMP Supt. Derek Williams told a news conference, "We've looked at every aspect of the collision including the speed of the vehicles, the point of impact, the position of the vehicles, impairment, road and weather conditions and witness evidence." The answers the police got have not been made public and are unlikely to come out before trial. Did the truck come to a full stop at the intersection? Did it stop at all? Which vehicle entered the intersection first? Was speed or fatigue or the mechanical condition of the truck an issue? Was the load too heavy? Was the truck driver's view of Highway 35 obscured by a stand of trees near the intersection? Should this matter go to trial, in order to get a conviction, the Crown will likely have to overcome the fairly high judicial bar established by the Supreme Court in R. v. Beatty. In that 2008 case, the court found that "dangerous driving causing death" required evidence of "a marked departure" from a normal standard of care. Brian Pfefferle, a Saskatoon criminal lawyer and lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Law, says that while there was a strong sentiment that charges should be laid, he is confident the Crown did not proceed out of fear of a public backlash. "I would guess they would not give in to public pressure. The Crown has an obligation to proceed only where there is a reasonable prospect of conviction," says Pfefferle, "and I am confident that is what happened here." — Geoff Ellwand R E G I O N A L W R A P PERRY NELSON-USA TODAY SPORTS LAW SCHOOL PROPOSAL STIRS DEBATE ABOUT JOB PROSPECTS Continued from page 9 of proportion to "transitional training" oppor- tunities such as articling and the law practice program, according to a May 2018 report about the lawyer licensing process by the Law Society of Ontario's Professional Development and Competence Committee. "Students are taking on hundreds of thou- sands [of dollars] in debt to be paid minimum wage or under during articling," says Heather Donkers, who began her term of president of the Law Student Society of Ontario, an advo- cacy body for Ontario law students, on May 1. The 150-student class Ryerson has proposed for its first-year law students in 2020 will make matters worse in terms of the competition for articling positions, Donkers says. "It used to be that if you went to school and you got a law degree, you'd 100-per-cent get a job when you graduate and that's not the case anymore," says Donkers, who notes that she neither supports nor opposes Ryerson's law school and has not heard a majority of LSSO members sway one way or another yet. Ryerson has suggested $20,000 tuition to the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, subject to provincial funding, and the school said in a report to its senate that it is committed to maintaining a reasonable tuition. Brooke MacKenzie, who runs Toronto litigation boutique MacKenzie Barristers, says that Ryerson's focus on practical training bet- ter addresses the difficulties faced by young lawyers, such as young lawyers' lack of experi- ence running a law practice, disparate skillsets provided by the articling experience and a disconnect between the types of law demanded by consumer and the types of jobs offered to young lawyers. Ryerson's new law school will focus on prac- tical details such as business and technology, says Chris Bentley, managing director of Ryer- son's Law Practice Program and Legal Innova- tion Zone. "We talk about financial literacy, have them prepare a business plan, understand the fundamentals of business as a mandatory part of the law school." MacKenzie says that while articling posi- tions help train students to become associates at a firm, they don't necessarily fill the gap on needed legal services dealing with family or criminal law matters. — Anita Balakrishnan "I would guess [the Crown] would not give in to public pressure. [It] has an obligation to proceed only where there is a reasonable prospect of conviction." Brian Pfefferle Saskatoon criminal lawyer

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