Canada : Three years later and still no answers

Yesterday marked the third anniversary of a tragic incident at a Langley mushroom farm that killed three workers and left two others severely injured. All five victims were fathers of school-age children, 13 in all. Three years later the families of the men still do not know the details of what happened that day or what has been done to prevent similar incidents.

"We need to do everything we can to ensure this kind of accident is never repeated and that farmworkers are not exposed to unsafe working conditions, says Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour. "Three years is far too long to wait."

The Federation is calling for a Coroner's Inquest into the incident to be held as soon as possible following the September 16th sentencing of the farm owners who pled guilty in May to 10 charges. The charges included failing to have a safety program in place, failing to educate the workers, failure to properly supervise workers and the failure to identify confined space hazards and take the required precautions.

"A Coroner's Inquest is the best way for the public to learn what happened that day and what measures need to be introduced to prevent similar incidents," says Sinclair. "As we saw in the Coroner's Inquest into the 2007 farm van crash that killed three women near Abbotsford, a Coroner's Jury can produce informed recommendations that could go a long way towards making farm workers safer if they are implemented."

"The legacy of these tragic deaths should be increased safety for farm workers, but it is not," says Sinclair. "The Liberal government sidestepped or ignored most of the Coroner's Jury's recommendations on farm vans. We can't let this happen again. The provincial government must stop putting profits and cost cutting ahead of farm worker safety. This could very well lead to more dead or injured farm workers in the months ahead. Premier Clark needs to do what Gordon Campbell refused to do. Stop treating farm workers and their families like second class citizens. A public inquiry is the best way to investigate and fix the health and safety abuses that we believe are widespread in the agricultural sector."

For more information: Evan Stewart, Director of Communications (604) 430-1421.

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