Brothers of Westboro bus crash victim hope trial will provide answers

The brothers of a woman who was killed in the Westboro bus crash in January say they're eager for the start of a court case against an OC Transpo bus driver, in order to learn what happened in the collision.

Anja Van Beek, 65, died on Jan. 11, 2019, when the Route 269 double-decker bus she was on slammed into a transit shelter overhang at Westboro station. The crash also killed Bruce Thomlinson, 56, and Judy Booth, 57.

Aissatou Diallo, 42, wasdriving the bus and facesthree counts of dangerous driving causing death and 35 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

"I just want to see the case move forwardand get some more information and figure out why it's all being lumped ontoher [the driver's] shoulders and nobody else," said Andrew Van Beek.

"According to the news that weread back in August she's being blamed 100 per cent for everything that's happenedand there's no blame being taken by the city or OC Transpo, which I don't agree with."

OC Transpoand the city were cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in the crash.

100 witnesses

On Tuesday morning Andrew Van Beek and his brother Mark Van Beeksat in the courtroom as Diallo's lawyer told the court that his team needed one month to review the crown's recently provided case.

Diallo's lawyer, Fady Mansour, said the unusually long amountof time is needed because the crown's disclosure isvery complex and containsthe testimony of 100 witnesses.

The justice of the peace agreed and scheduled the case's next court date for Nov. 1.

As was the case during her court proceeding last month, Diallowasnot required to be present Tuesday and elected not to attend.

Asked by reporters outside the courthouseif he would have anything to say to Diallo if given the chance, Mark Van Beek answered that he'd likely have nothing to say since he's still waiting to learn whatfactors led to the fatal crash.

"I can't put myself in her place. Everything is conjecture and alot of assumptions have been made," said Mark Van Beek."Being here we'rejust hoping to get the closure process started because that's been a wide open wound since January, and every day that we come here it's going to feel like that gap is closing a little bit more."

'She was the best sister'

The two brothers said while they realize a criminal trial would be difficult to endure, they also worry that the alternative of a guilty plea or plea bargain could be harderfor the families of the victims.

"If it means thatwe don't find out any information then it's not a good thing," said Andrew Van Beek. "It means that someone's getting away with not having a responsibility for the accident and that's not good."

In the meantimeMark Van Beeksays his family is still mourning on a daily basis.

"It's a lot harder than we ever expected, the whole process from day one, and we don't expect that will ever change for the rest of our lives." said Mark Van Beek.

"She was the best sister throughout the years.She took care of us as youngsters. Our whole lives were formulated by her. Everything we see reminds us of her."