When Alan Wack and his family put together their victim impact statement on the loss of their son Stephen, he said they wanted to focus on the amazing man Stephen had become so there was a public record of how truly exceptional he was.
"We wanted to write ours about Stephen, because we know once they were in court, they were a public record. We just wanted to have some public record of what we thought of our son," Alan said.
On Monday, the Wacks shared memories of their beloved son with the court in Melfort, Sask., as part of a sentencing hearing for truck driver Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, who was responsible for the Humboldt Broncos bus crash last April that killed 16 people and injured 13 others. Four former St. Albert Raiders hockey players, including Stephen, Jaxon Joseph, Conner Lukan and Logan Hunter, died in the crash.
In an interview with the Gazette later, Alan said he was most proud of his son's character.
"I think you would have a tough time finding somebody who would say something bad about him," Alan said.
Alan added that each and every member of the Humboldt team was exceptional, as coach Darcy Haugan put the team together not just based on skill but based on character.
“I think that was the core of the team. I just think he picked a lot of good character kids,” Alan said.
“You hear all these stories over the last few days and they’re entirely true. They were just amazing kids.”
Over two and a half days in court, 90 victim impact statements were submitted or read out loud, sharing stories of the exceptional people who were lost, injured or impacted from the terrible crash.
Alan said coming to read his statement in Melfort was certainly emotional, but not difficult.
“We wrote ours specifically about our son Stephen – that’s what we wanted ours to be about, and it’s not difficult to talk about him. I could talk about him for days,” he said.
The St. Albert resident said it has been a weight off the family's shoulders now that this portion of the court process is done. The family had anticipated the legal process to drag on for years and were shocked to see a sentencing date come in January, less than one year since the collision.
“I think it's a huge weight off, just to be able to put this behind us,” Alan said.
Now, after reading the statement, Alan said he knows the process is out of his hands. The family hasn’t really focused on what sentence they want to see imposed on Sidhu.
The father said 30 lives – the 29 on the bus and Sidhu's – and their families have been affected forever. He said it doesn't really make sense to put Sidhu in jail forever and is not sure what a proper sentence would look like.
“I think the judge has an extremely tough job ahead of her,” Alan said.
Earlier in January, Sidhu pleaded guilty dozens of counts of dangerous driving, forgoing a trial and moving directly to the sentencing portion of the legal process.
Alan said the RCMP did such a thorough job on their investigation that he expects Sidhu did not have a choice but to enter the guilty pleas, as the case against him was so strong.
The father said Sidhu did the right thing by pleading guilty and feels compassion for the 29-year-old driver.
“I feel bad for him. What do you say? I feel some compassion for him too.”
On Monday morning before the court proceedings began, Tricia stunned onlookers as she approached Sidhu, crouched next to him and had a quiet conversation with him, while her hand rested on the man’s shoulder. She then smiled slightly and returned to her seat.
The mother is remaining mum on the details of the conversation but called the conversation "meaningful."
“Prior to court beginning Monday morning, I had a deeply meaningful personal conversation with Jaskirat Sidhu, the details of which I prefer to keep private,” she said.
Tricia was seemingly the first parent to have a private conversation with Sidhu during the week. The second was Scott Thomas, the father of Evan Thomas, who called his meeting “powerful” and something he will never forget.
