Natasha Montreal@NatashaMontreal
This is Nancy Lefrançois and her 11-year-old son Loïc. They are dead now.
They are dead because Baljeet Singh, who was driving a semi, was so engrossed in playing an online game on his cell phone that he didn't notice that the traffic ahead of him was stopped for road work.
Singh mowed down 7 vehicles with his truck. 10 victims other than Nancy and Loïc miraculously survived, but were badly injured.
After Singh was treated for shock, he fled the country and went on the lam. For years.
Nancy's husband Benoit was unable to attend her funeral because he was in a coma for 3 weeks with serious injuries.
The other child in their vehicle suffered injuries to his spine, internal bleeding, a broken nose, and facial injuries requiring plastic surgery.
Singh was eventually caught by US authorities and returned to Canada.
Singh is now expressing deep regret. Which seems self-serving and convenient because he had a plethora of violations prior to this catastrophic event, suggesting a pattern of reckless disregard for the lives and safety of others.
According to CTV News reporter, Joe Lofaro, "A review of the truck’s dash camera showed that he committed more than 40 traffic violations during his last three trips and repeatedly used his cellphone while driving, weaved between lanes, and failed to take his mandatory rest periods, leading him to exceed the number of permitted driving hours."
I am tired of writing about the avoidable slaughter of Canadians on our roads.
Accidents are an unavoidable reality of driving. Well-meaning people sometimes make unintentional and catastrophic errors that end in tragedy. We all know and accept this.
But these events aren't accidents. These are deaths caused by wanton recklessness. The drivers in these cases consciously disregard known risks and as a consequence, people die who would otherwise not.
11-year-old boys die. Little girls die. Moms and Dads die. Grandparents die. Lives are shattered. Innocents have catastrophic injuries that forever change their futures.
None of it needs to happen. It's all a choice.
Canadians will keep getting slaughtered on our roads if we don't stop mass-importing third worlders to drive semis.
Only about 18% of Indians have a driver's license. India has over 150,000 road deaths per year.
It is fantastical to believe that people born and raised in places where driving is unusual and recklessness on the roads is the norm will all be cultural outliers.
It is pure ignorance to deny that, even for the outliers who do value safety and competence, skills like driving in snow and ice are easily acquired.
Canadian driving skills are first learned through observation and experience in a small vehicle. They are not easily acquired by adult foreigners behind the wheel of a semi.
It is akin to organised crime to allow companies to bring these drivers in, and it is suicidal not to shut the companies down and deport the offenders when they slaughter Canadians on the road.
Elbows Up policies get Canadians killed. The willful blindness of Canadians who refuse to tell the truth and the clinging to bromides about diversity being a strength are destroying Canada.