THE safety, dignity and livelihoods of BC farmworkers will be front and centre on Sunday, March 8 at the annual Golden Tree Farmworkers Memorial in Abbotsford.
The ceremony honours three women — Armajit Kaur Bal, 52, Sukhvinder Kaur Punia, 46, and Sarbjit Kaur Sidhu, 31 — killed in the 2007 crash of an overloaded van of farmworkers. Families will join community organizations and labour and political leaders in remembrance.
This year’s memorial will begin at 12:30 p.m. on March 8 at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium (1st floor), 32315 South Fraser Way, in Abbotsford with light refreshments. The program will begin at 1 p.m. and will include a series of speakers. Participants will then walk to the nearby Golden Tree monument, where they will hold a candlelight vigil.
Bal, Punia and Sidhu died when an overloaded van carrying them to work skidded out of control on the Trans-Canada Highway near Abbotsford.
Multiple investigations revealed that the van was illegally overloaded and had only two seat belts, was riding on mismatched and bald tires, had a wooden bench in the back, and was driven with a fraudulent safety permit by someone who did not have the proper license.
Photos: goldentree.ca
Located in Abbotsford’s Friendship Garden behind the Clearbrook Library, the Golden Tree Farmworkers’ Monument was seven years in the making. It honours the memory of the three women who were killed in the 2007 van crash as well as the work done by all farmworkers. It was designed and built by local artists Dean and Christina Lauzé.
