PPC leader Maxime Bernier has called for US Secretary of Transportation to talk to Doug Ford and Christya Freeland about how drivers from Punjab are “taking over” the Canadian trucking industry. “US secretary of transportation @SecDuffy should ask @fordnation and @cafreeland about the takeover of the Canadian trucking industry by reckless drivers from Punjab. This is a threat to road safety on both sides of the border. How many Canadians and Americans have to die before we put an end to it?” Bernier tweeted on Sunday..Transport Canada’s Canadian Motor Vehicle Traffic Collision Statistics 2023 reports that collisions involving commercial vehicles have declined in recent years. From 2012 to 2021, fatalities in collisions involving commercial vehicles dropped by more than 14%, while serious injuries declined nearly 30%. During the same period, the number of registered commercial vehicles increased, meaning the incident rate per vehicle decreased. The statistics do not provide information about drivers’ national origin or cultural background.A peer-reviewed study by Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences found that recent immigrants are less likely than Canadian-born drivers to be involved in serious motor-vehicle crashes..Industry reports show that the Canadian trucking workforce has become increasingly diverse. A 2018 article in Truck News stated that South Asian drivers were the fastest-growing segment of the provincial trucking workforce. In some parts of Metro Toronto, more than 50% of drivers were reported to be South Asian. Census data reviewed by the Ontario Trucking Association indicated that by the mid-2010s, nearly one in five Canadian truck drivers had South Asian backgrounds. In British Columbia, South Asians made up about 34.6% of truck drivers, and in Ontario, about 25.6%..There have been several high-profile accidents in Canada involving drivers of Indian or Punjabi origin.In April 2018, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, driving for Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd., failed to stop at a flashing sign near Armley, Saskatchewan, and collided with the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team bus.Sixteen people were killed and 13 injured. Sidhu pled guilty to 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation causing bodily harm, and was sentenced to eight years in prison.In November 2024, Navjeet Singh, a 25-year-old truck driver, was charged after running a stop sign in Manitoba and colliding with an SUV, killing a mother and her eight-year-old daughter.He later fled the province and was arrested upon returning to Canada, facing two counts of dangerous driving causing death and obstruction of a police officer.Outside Canada, in August 2025, Harjinder Singh, an Indian-origin truck driver, made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike with a semi-truck, blocking all lanes.A minivan collided with the trailer, killing three people. Singh was charged with vehicular homicide and faces deportation, a case that drew attention in Canada due to cross-border trucking and regulatory concerns.The People’s Party of Canada won approximately 5% of the vote in the 2021 federal election. In that campaign, Bernier focused heavily on issues related to immigration, industry regulation, and federal oversight, which continue to be central themes in his public messaging.
