The committee tasked with recommending how the $15-million Humboldt Broncos GoFundMe should be divvied up says the families who lost a loved one in the bus crash should receive more than those who were in the crash and survived.
The five-person committee’s report on how the money should be split was filed in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench Thursday. The April 6 crash killed 13 Broncos team members and injured 16.
The proposed split would see survivors each receive $425,000, while the families or dependents of the crash’s fatal victims would receive $475,000. These figures do not include a $50,000 interim payment each family received earlier this year.
Next steps
The report’s recommendations are not the final word on the matter. Justice Neil Gabrielson will make the final decision after hearing arguments from lawyers for the families and the Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund Inc., which has been shepherding the GoFundMe distribution through the court process.
Gabrielson has already decided that the division of money should not be exclusively tied to expenses incurred by the families or survivors.
The next court date is set for Nov. 28.
People from more than 80 countries pledged a total $15 million on GoFundMe for the families after the April 6 collision between the Broncos team bus and a semi-trailer.
GoFundMe deducted more than $500,000 from the final tally for payment processing. That, along with the interim payments, left approximately $13 million to be split up.
The five-person committee asked by the memorial fund corporation to recommend a split was made up of:
- Dennis Ball, a retired Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench judge.
- Mark Chipman, chairman of the company that owns the Winnipeg Jets hockey team.
- Former Olympic hockey gold medallist Hayley Wickenheiser.
- Dr. Peter Spafford of the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine.
- Kevin Cameron, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response.
‘We just wanted to help’
Sylvie Kellington, the woman who started the GoFundMe page alongside another Humboldt resident with the aim of helping families cover expenses, said she hopes the money can be distributed as soon as possible.
“It’s been frustrating for the donors that this is taking so long, but I trust it’s all being done properly,” Kellington said Thursday. “I’m happy this didn’t all fall on my shoulders.”
She said she had no idea the fund would grow to record levels.
“We just wanted to help, and I think we did,” she said. “The whole world responded. It was just wonderful.”