Farm workers' vans face tougher scrutiny

Stepped-up random checks on vehicles carrying farm workers have been ordered by Solicitor General John Les in the wake of last week's tragic freeway accident in the Fraser Valley that claimed three lives.

Three farm workers were killed and 14 others injured when the van carrying them to work flipped onto its roof last Wednesday.

The RCMP have said the van had been designed for 10 people, but the regular seats had been replaced with wooden benches, and not all of the passengers were wearing seatbelts.

In the wake of that accident, critics blamed the B.C. Liberalgovernment for failing to adequately regulate farm contractors.

The Liberals stopped enforcing employment standardsafter coming to power in 2001, University of B.C. business professor Mark Thompson, one of the authors of the Employment Standards Act, said last week.

That eased the pressure on employers, particularly farm labour contractors, to follow safety standards, he said.

Families of the three women who died spoke at a public meeting over the weekend, calling on the government to take action to make farm workers' lives safer.

The solicitor general said Monday that the RCMP and the motor vehicle enforcement branch have now been ordered to increase enforcement.

"The fact of the matter is, when word gets out that there is stepped-up enforcement, I suspect there's going to be stepped-up compliance even without inspection in some cases.

"The message has got to be clear. If you're driving an unsafe vehicle on the road, you'd better not be taking it out on the road because we're going to be taking it off the road for you."

Les said authorities will increase enforcement on an interim basis while he waits for the results of the investigation into last week's fatal crash.