Truck driver in Laval, Que., crash that killed 4 gets 10-year sentence

A trucker who plowed into traffic on Highway 440 in Laval, Que., causing a massive pileup that killed four people and injured several others, has been handed a 10-year sentence.

Quebec court Judge Yanick Laramée said Thursday Jagmeet Grewal, 58, a truck driver who failed to brake as his truck approached a line of vehicles on August 5, 2019, was negligent that day — both because he wasn't paying attention to the road and wasn't supposed to be driving.

Grewal's licence was suspended by by the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), Quebec's automobile insurance board, in 2014, due to health issues.

He was declared permanently unfit to work as a truck driver and was granted financial compensation for his "total incapacity."

He only received another licence because of communication problems at the SAAQ. 

The judge said Grewal knew he wasn't allowed to drive and had lied to his employer and used a falsified document to prove that he had no criminal record.

Crown attorney Simon Blais called the sentence "historic" and said it delivered a clear message that a behaviour, such as that exhibited by Grewal, would not be tolerated in society. 

"This is an individual who ultimately has no regard for the safety of others, who has acted over the years for his own benefit without considering society, without considering the safety of road users," Blais said, adding Grewal lied repeatedly to find himself behind the wheel on the day of the crash.

Laramée said Grewal's actions were worse than the driver who caused the 2018 Humbolt tragedy in Saskatchewan that killed 16 members of a junior hockey team and injured 13 others.

That driver was sentenced to eight years.

Mariane Marsolais' father, Gilles Marsolais and his partner Michelle Bernier, both newly retired police officers, were killed in the crash. 

"It won't bring them back, but I'm happy," she said, of Grewal's sentence. 

The defence had asked for a sentence of six to seven years, arguing that Grewal was supported by his family, had collaborated with the probation officer for the purpose of a pre-sentence report and that his trial had been widely covered by the media.

"[These] must all be considered as mitigating factors or elements favourable to him," the defence argued, according to court documents.