Abbotsford BC – A candlelight vigil in memory of three women farm workers killed in the crash of an overloaded and unsafe van near Abbotsford in 2007 will be held this Sunday, March 10, in Abbotsford.
Date:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sunday, March 10, 2013
Time:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1:30 pm-3:00 pm
Location:Â Â Â Â Abbotsford Civic Plaza, 32315 South Fraser Way,
                      Abbotsford
During the event, families of the deceased farm workers will unveil a model of the Golden Tree Monument. The Golden Tree will be the first monument to farm workers in Canada and will be erected on the shoreline of Mill Lake in Abbotsford beginning later this year.
Speakers will include:
- Bill MacGregor, Deputy Mayor of Abbotsford
- Charan Gill, CEO, Progressive Intercultural Services Society (PICS)
- Gurcharan Dhillon, Legal Advocacy Worker, Abbotsford Community Services
- Jim Sinclair, President, B.C. Federation of Labour – (will call for the unveiling)
- Raj Chouhan, NDP MLA Burnaby-Edmonds, Co-founder of the Canadian Farmworkers Union
- Don Dahr, Manager of Labour & Industry Services for Agriculture, WorkSafeBC
- Moe Gill, Abbotsford City Councillor
- Sarmukh Singh, husband of injured worker from accident, Amrik Kaur Singh
- Jagjeet Sidhu, husband of deceased worker, Sarabjit Kaur Sidhu
Background:
Sarbjit Kaur Sidhu, Amarjit Bal and Sukhvinder Kaur Punia were killed on the morning of March 7, 2007 when the unsafe and overloaded farm worker van in which they were travelling crashed on Highway 1 near Abbotsford.
Although the RCMP recommended that criminal charges be laid against the owner/operator of the van, no charges were ever laid.
In December of 2009, a Coroner’s jury investigating the crash made 18 comprehensive recommendations that would make farm workers safer. Not all recommendations have been implemented.
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For more information, please contact Michael Gardiner at 604-436-7030.