CALGARY—Three months after the fatal crash involving the Humboldt Broncos, Saskatchewan RCMP have charged the 29-year-old driver who was behind the wheel when his truck and the junior hockey team’s bus collided.

Mounties arrested Jaskirat Singh Sidhu at his home in Calgary on Friday morning, charging him with 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.

“I know it’s been difficult for many to await the outcome of this police investigation,” said Saskatchewan RCMP Assistant Commissioner Curtis Zablocki. “This important work was necessary.”

The Broncos were on their way to a playoff game on April 6 when their bus and the truck collided at an intersection in rural Saskatchewan, killing 16 people and injuring 13 others. It prompted a massive emergency response and left the small prairie city of Humboldt, Sask., cloaked in grief as it processed the magnitude of the loss.

Among the dead were 10 players, two coaches, a statistician, a radio announcer, the driver of the bus and the team’s athletic therapist.

The devastating bus crash also rocked the country, prompting a massive show of sympathy across Canada — homeowners left hockey sticks on their front porches, and workers wore sports jerseys to the office as a show of support.

The RCMP said it assembled the families of the crash victims in Saskatoon and Edmonton Friday morning to tell them about the outcome of the investigation. Most of the injured players have been released from hospital.

In a brief statement, the Broncos thanked the RCMP for their work and said the organization remains focused on supporting the victims and their families. “Our organization has faith in the justice system and we will be watching closely as this court process plays out.”

The arrest is another step toward closure for mourners, said Nolan Crouse, former mayor of St. Albert, Alta., where two crash victims were from.

“These things don’t bring a smile to anybody’s face regardless of the situation,” said Crouse, who’s also chair of the St. Albert Humboldt Remembrance Committee.

“It’s just a step in the process. There are a lot more positive things that are happening to help the community heal.”

Zablocki said Sidhu is remanded in RCMP custody. He’ll appear in Saskatchewan provincial court next week, though the time and location of the hearing haven’t yet been set.

Sidhu hasn’t entered a plea and hasn’t yet had the chance to offer a defence. The charges haven’t been proven in court.

Supt. Derek Williams, the officer in charge of the Saskatchewan RCMP’s major crimes unit, said the charges were “serious.” Some convicted of the charge of dangerous driving causing death could face a maximum penalty of “upwards of 14 years” in prison, he said.

A core team of 20 investigators — assisted by a rotating crew of 100 more — probed the circumstances leading to the crash over the last three months, Williams said.

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Factors included the weather, the speed and positions of the vehicles, environmental factors like a stand of trees on one of the corners of the intersection and the evidence of 60 witnesses interviewed by police. The RCMP also did a re-enactment of the collision.

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“We’ve looked at every aspect of the collision,” Williams said. “Every piece of information was carefully examined.”

At the time of the crash, the Broncos’ bus was travelling north and the truck travelling west. There was a stop sign at the intersection for westbound vehicles, but none for northbound.

Williams wouldn’t say what factors led investigators to their decision to lay charges, saying the matter is now before the courts.

The RCMP filed the paperwork necessary to lay charges Friday, but had said in June that it was discussing the possibility with Crown prosecutors.

Tom Straschnitzki, whose son Ryan was paralyzed from the chest down, said he was relieved charges were laid.

“It’s finally come to charges being laid, so we are very happy about that because we don’t want that to be ignored at all,” Straschnitzki told The Canadian Press.

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“It should put a little closure to the first step and the second step is ... let’s see what the courts do and find out what exactly happened.

“I think that’s what people want to know. What exactly happened? How it did happen and why it happened.”

Straschnitzki said he and his wife, Michelle, hadn’t thought much about charges in the three months since the crash.

“We were just too focused on Ryan and just had the faith in the RCMP that they did a lot of hard work to get it done. I guess we’ll just wait and see in the courts.”

The Humboldt Broncos released a statement Friday saying the organization has faith in the justice system and will be watching as the court process unfolds.

“Our primary focus continues to be supporting the survivors, families and others that were directly impacted by the tragedy on April 6,” the team said. “We will have no further comment on the investigation or the resulting charges until the process has concluded.”

At the time of the crash, Sidhu was working for Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd., a two-truck company operating out of a home in northeast Calgary. Sidhu wasn’t hurt in the collision. He was arrested immediately afterwards and released later that evening.

Adesh Deol owner Sukhmander Singh offered few details when reached by phone Friday afternoon. He said he last spoke to Sidhu, the only other employee of the company, four days ago but wouldn’t reveal the nature of their conversation.

“No comment,” he said when asked if he had reached out to the victims’ families.

“Nobody contacted me. Nobody called me,” he said when asked whether police have signalled any intention to lay charges against him or his company.

Singh previously said Sidhu only had a year’s experience as a commercial driver before the fatal collision, and just over two weeks of training from his new employer.

“I do my best. I give the training within 15 days,” Singh told reporters back in April. “I can train for the straps, secure the load — everything. But the guy has already a licence one year ago.”

The country’s trucking lobby reacted with surprise to news that such a novice was operating a two-trailer vehicle — a configuration known in the industry as a B-train — on wintry Prairie roads after just a month on the job.

Saskatchewan took steps toward making training mandatory for semitruck drivers in the days after the tragedy. However, Alberta — the jurisdiction that issued licences for Adesh Deol and Sidhu — hasn’t made any such moves.

On Friday, Alberta Transportation Minister Brian Mason said he expects proposed changes “within a couple weeks.”

Alberta Transportation previously said it has been reviewing the issues for several years, and Mason asked for a full report after the Humboldt crash. A provincial consultation with the province’s trucking industry last spring found some firms worried that mandatory training would “cripple” the industry with additional costs.

Adesh Deol had a clean record with the province of Alberta before the Humboldt crash. The company was ordered to take its trucks off the road in the days afterward.

However, one of Adesh Deol’s trucks and one of its drivers — a different vehicle and person than the ones involved with the fatal crash, Alberta Transportation said — are now working for a transport company called Quality Logistics, operating from the same address as Adesh Deol but with different owners.

Singh previously denied any links between his company and Quality Logistics, though Alberta Transportation said the two businesses are “connected.”

Williams, of the Saskatchewan RCMP, said the police investigation into the Humboldt crash didn’t focus on the actions of Adesh Deol.

“Our investigation was focused on the driver in this case and that’s who we’ve charged,” he said.

With files from The Canadian Press, Hamdi Issawi and Star staff

Emma McIntosh is an environment, justice and investigative reporter with StarMetro Calgary. Follow her on Twitter at @EmmaMci

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