Three victims of a farm van crash in March 2007 were honoured on Sunday at a vigil in Abbotsford. As their loved ones gathered to remember them, provincial New Democrats called for changes that could save other workers still at risk.
Sarbjit Kaur Sidhu, 31, Amarjit Kaur Bal, 52, and Sukhwinder Kaur Punia, 46, were killed when an overloaded passenger van crashed into a concrete barrier and flipped on its roof on Highway One.
Only the driver and the front seat passenger were wearing seatbelts, and 14 others were injured in the incident, which was en route to Rainbow Greenhouse in Chilliwack.
Harwinder Gill, the van's driver, admitted that she did not have the proper training or license to operate such a vehicle.
Gill pleaded guilty in 2008 to driving without due consideration and driving without a proper license, and was fined $2,000 and banned from driving for a year.
A coroner's inquest into the crash completed in December made 18 recommendations aimed at preventing another tragedy, including a push to classify 15-passenger vehicles as "high risk", and subject to random roadside checks, and to implement mandatory annual government inspections.
So far, none of the recommendations have been adopted.
NDP Opposition Leader Carole James was at the vigil, chastising the B.C. government's failure to act.
"The growers are very powerful. The government has only listened to the growers for the last 10 years, but it's time they listened to the coroner," she said.
"If they won't listen to farm workers, at least listen to the coroner and do what's right here and protect farmworkers."
B.C.'s minister of labour told CTV News he will be meeting with the victims' families next week – and that he plans to issue a public response to their plea shortly.
With files from The Canadian Press and a report from CTV British Columbia's Penny Daflos
