RCMP Charges Saskatchewan School Bus Driver with Impaired Driving Following Drop-Off of Almost 50 Children
A Saskatchewan school bus driver was charged with impaired driving after dropping off about 50 students at their homes, according to police.
RCMP in Dillon, Sask., received a report of an impaired driver on the Buffalo River Dene Nation at about 3:45 p.m., a police media release said.
Dene Nation security officers and school employees had seen signs that the bus driver might be intoxicated and had tried to stop him from driving, the release said.
About 50 children were on board the bus with the driver.
RCMP began searching for the bus to ensure the children’s safety but all had been dropped off by the time the bus was located.
Officers said the 45-year-old driver appeared to be intoxicated and charged him with operating a conveyance while impaired and operating a conveyance with a blood alcohol level over 80 mg per 100 ml of blood. Both are criminal charges.
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The driver’s licence has also been suspended and he is scheduled to appear in court in Dillon on Dec. 18.
RCMP thanked the Buffalo River Dene Nation security officers and school staff for their help during the investigation.
Dillon is 590 kilometres north of Saskatoon.
Humbolt Bus Crash
In 2018, near Tisdale, Sask., a semi-trailer truck collided with a bus carrying players of the Humbolt Broncos junior hockey team. The truck had failed to stop at a stop sign and drove into the path of the bus at a rural intersection.
Sixteen people on the bus were killed and another 13 were injured in the collision.
The truck driver, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving offences and was sentenced to eight years in jail. He was given full parole in 2023.
Sidhu, who was from India and had permanent residency in Canada, was ordered deported at an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing in Calgary on May 24, 2024. The Canada Border Services Agency had recommended Sidhu’s deportation two years earlier.
He has applied to have his permanent residence status returned and the deportation order reversed. Some family members of those killed say they want to see him deported.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
