3-death crash inquest told previous inquest 'ignored'

The three farm workers killed in an Abbotsford, B.C., crash in 2007 would be alive today if the province had cracked down on safety following a similar crash three years earlier, a coroner's inquest was told Wednesday.

B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair testified that an inquest into a similar crash six years ago also called for a crackdown on the unsafe transportation of farm workers.

Mohinder Kaur Sunar was crushed to death in the wreck of a van without seatbelts in July 2003.

The current inquest is investigating the deaths of three farm workers on the Trans-Canada Highway in March 2007.

Amarjit Kaur Bal, Sarabjit Kaur Sidhu and Sukhwinder Kaur Punia died and 14 other people were injured when the van flipped and crashed into concrete mediansin the centre of the highway.

Witnesses have testified that the 15-passenger van had faulty brakes, bad tires, was overloaded and was equipped with only two seatbelts.

A coroner's jury and WorkSafe BC urged after Sunar's death in 2003 that the province review the Motor Vehicle Act to reinforce laws on seatbelt use, overloading and vehicle safety.

Demands labour minister act

Those recommendations were ignored by the B.C. government, Sinclair said.

"It's time that this inquiry, this inquest, and the rest of the province say enough's enough," he told reporters outside the hearing room in Burnaby.

Sinclair demanded that B.C.'s labour minister promise the findings of this latest inquest won't also be ignored.

"You say to the people of British Columbia that if those recommendations come down, I'll enforce every one of them, because it's time to change this industry."

Reached for comment in Victoria,Labour Minister Murray Coell said he looked forward to seeing the recommendations, but said he could make no further commitment.

"There's an inquest on as we speak. It's government policy not to comment on things before an inquest," Coell said.