What Justice?

The truck driver who plead guilty to causing the horrendous accident involving the Humboldt hockey team was given a sentence of eight years. On top of that, it is highly likely that he will be deported when his sentence is over. No sentence that he could have received that would have brought back any of the young men killed or for that matter allow some closure to occur for the families Eight years, therefore, seems reasonable - especially as it was an accident and he had not intentionally done anything to cause the accident (e.g. drinking alcohol). I would think the consequence of not being allowed to live in Canada would, for many people, seem like a very harsh sentence.

On the other hand, his boss who did nothing to ensure that his driver followed the law, that he was properly trained or prepared for the job was only fined $5,000.00. In fact, the owner of the trucking company systematically broke the laws - the very ones designed to monitor how long truckers drive and how much rest they get. It would seem to me that while clearly, the driver has responsibility for losing concentration and not being fully aware of his surroundings - surely the owner must bear some of the responsibility as well.

It is not clear to me why all of the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the truckers - especially truckers who at best have received the minimum amount of training and who may lack sufficient language skills to even ask other truckers for advice. It would seem to me that it is the boss who took advantage of the trucker, who used him and now gets off with a minimal slap on the wrist.

As I have stated elsewhere, the judge when choosing the appropriate sentence for any crime must consider a number of things, one of which is - will the sentence act as a deterrent, a warning to others to not make the same mistake? In many cases, I think it is foolish to assume that a criminal will consider how serious the consequence are before they commit a crime. In this case, however, if the fine had been substantial then perhaps other owners of small trucking companies would think twice before not following the rules.

As it is - owners can continue to flaunt the law and pay the minimal penalty. As so often the bosses get off easy and the worker pays the price.