Pakistani immigrant who caused deadly highway crash wins chance to stay in Canada
A Pakistani immigrant ordered deported 17 months ago for causing a deadly five-vehicle crash on a major highway in Mississauga, Ont., and then fleeing the scene, has won another chance to stay in Canada.
The “tragic” Jan. 27, 2018, crash on the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) resulted “in the death of one person and severe injuries to various other individuals,” according to a recent Federal Court decision.
Yasir Baig “fled the scene of the accident but surrendered to the police” a dozen days later.
In October 2022, the married father of three pled guilty to dangerous driving causing death. Baig, a permanent resident of Canada, was sentenced to six months less a day in jail and a 32-month driving prohibition.
“As a result of his criminal conviction,” Canada’s Immigration Division conducted a hearing that concluded Baig was inadmissible to this country “for serious criminality. A removal order was issued against (him) on May 17, 2024,” said the Federal Court decision, dated Nov. 3.
Baig took his case to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD), seeking “special relief” on “humanitarian and compassionate grounds so that he could maintain his permanent resident status and remain in Canada.”
When that panel turned him down, Baig took his case to Federal Court, asking for a judicial review.
“In my view, the IAD fell into error in two ways,” said Justice Anne Turley.
In finding that Baig had “shown minimal potential for rehabilitation,” the IAD “did not engage,” Turley said, with the Ontario Parole Board’s “determination that he posed a very low risk to public safety.”
The judge noted the parole board, using “a tool designed to assess an offender’s risk of recidivism, rated (Baig) as a very low risk to reoffend.”
According to Turley, “in assessing the best interests of the children, the IAD did not consider (Baig’s) evidence that his wife and children would return to Pakistan with him if he was removed from Canada, nor the resulting hardship on the children due to the language barriers and the lack of educational accommodations.”
The crash Baig caused occurred in the Toronto-bound lanes of the QEW near Cawthra Road around 10 p.m.
According to the judge who sentenced him, Baig got angry that night because someone flashed their high beams at him and honked.
That caused a chain reaction involving five vehicles, Superior Court Justice Bruce Durno said in June 2023.
His court heard Baig was driving in the eastbound lanes of the QEW in Mississauga, when Baig suddenly cut in front of traffic in the left passing lane. Baig slowed his Honda Civic to about 50 km/h, causing the vehicle immediately behind him to abruptly slow down. When the driver behind him flashed his high beams twice, Baig responded by bringing his car to a complete stop on the busy highway.
Seven people were rushed to hospital from the crash scene, including two women who suffered critical injuries.
One of the women, Nicole Turcotte, 22, of Niagara Falls, later died in hospital.
Baig, who was 32 at the time of the crash, was charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, dangerous operation of a vehicle causing harm, failing to remain at the scene of a collision causing death, and failing to remain at the scene of a collision causing harm.
“At the preliminary inquiry, the two charges of failing to stop at the scene were dismissed,” said the Federal Court decision.
“In October 2022, (Baig) pled guilty to dangerous driving causing death, and the dangerous driving causing bodily harm charge was withdrawn.”
Baig became a permanent resident of Canada in 2008 through a spousal sponsorship, the decision said. “He and his wife have three children, all Canadian citizens, twin boys who were born in 2009 and a younger son born in 2019.”
When Baig appeared before the Ontario Parole Board in August 2023, it found his risk was “manageable in the community” and that he was “a very low risk of re-offending,” according to Turley’s decision.
Baig cited “his remorse, his establishment in Canada, the lack of appropriate medical care in Pakistan, his children’s best interests, and the hardship he and his family would suffer if he were removed,” in support of his request for special relief on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, said the Federal Court decision.
In a decision this past January, the IAD found those were insufficient grounds “to allow the appeal or to stay (his) removal from Canada.”
In the same decision, the IAD also determined that Baig’s “continued threat to public safety” outweighed the best interests of his children.
According to the IAD, the threshold for humanitarian and compassionate relief is high.
Baig “has shown minimal potential for rehabilitation,” said the IAD.
“These considerations weigh significantly against special relief.”
Baig’s wife “testified (in front of the IAD) about the significant hardship their children would experience if they had to live in Pakistan, due to both language barriers and educational needs.”
“None of the children speak either Urdu or Punjabi. Further, the twin boys (who were 15 at the time of the IAD hearing) require education accommodations, including special laptops that assist them with reading. Additionally, (Baig’s) wife testified that she feared her sons would be judged in Pakistan for their learning disabilities.”
The IAD determined Baig’s “children’s interests would be best served” if he remained in Canada.
“However, the continued threat (Baig) poses to the safety of the Canadian public given his minimal possibility for rehabilitation outweighs the best interests of the appellant in this case,” said the IAD.
Turley determined the IAD’s decision was “unreasonable” and “must be set aside.”
She granted Baig’s application for judicial review and sent his case back to the IAD for “redetermination.”
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