During the long hours he drives a Chilliwack cab to support his three young children, Jagjeet Sidhu has a lot of time to reflect upon the life that would have been had his young wife not died needlessly in a freeway crash two years ago.

Today, all the struggling father wants is safer transport for farm workers like his wife, and an apology from the couple he believes was complicit in her death.

Jagjeet’s wife Sarbjit Sidhu was one of three female farm workers killed when an overloaded van heading to a Fraser Valley greenhouse flipped over on Highway 1. Fourteen others were seriously injured in the preventable tragedy on March 7, 2007.

Jagjeet Sidhu was among a group of some 200-plus emotional and frustrated friends, family members and social activists who arrived at British Columbia Labour Minister Iain Black’s campaign office in Port Moody on Saturday to deliver a letter demanding changes to employment standards for area farm workers.

Black, alerted to the gathering, opted not to attend — a decision that has further aggrieved the victims’ families.

"It’s not good, it’s not respectful to have no response," said Jagjeet, left alone since his wife’s death to care for his daughters, aged 10 and five, and his son, now three years old.

"They miss her all the time," added Jagjeet, an Abbotsford resident.

"My wife is never coming back, I lost my wife. But my idea, my reason for stepping forward is that I want in the future that all the people go nicely to work and come nicely back home and no one is dying in accidents on the highway when they don’t need to."

Amarjit Kaur Bal and Sukhwinder Kaur Punia — their weeping families assembled outside the provincial politician’s St. Johns Street office — were also killed in the single-vehicle roll-over.

A WorkSafeBC investigation determined that the 15-passenger van was overloaded, unstable, had poor tires, had only two seat belts between 17 occupants and was being driven by an under-qualified driver in bad road conditions.

A fine of $70,000 was issued to van owner R.H.A. Enterprises. The wife of company owner Ranjit Gill, van driver Harwinderpal Kaur Gill, was banned from driving for one year and fined $2,000 for her role in the deadly crash.

"This driver and contractor are husband and wife," said Jagjeet. "He and she have never come to my home, never. Never so much as offered an apology. Yes, simply, I would like an apology from them. Maybe then this can be closed for me."

Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, B.C.’s biggest labour organization, as well as members of the Canadian Farmworkers’ Union lead the charge for change at the campaign office of Tri-City politician Black.

Black, who is running for the B.C. Liberals in the riding of Port Moody-Coquitlam, was elected to the Legislature as a member of the B.C. Liberal Party in 2005 and appointed Minister of Labour and Citizens’ Services three years later.

The B.C. Fed claims Black has refused to meet with the farmworkers’ families.

On Saturday, the group was forced to leave its petition letter with Black’s office staff.

The letter contained - among other things - requests for a ban on 15-seat passenger vans and guaranteed equality in employment standards, as well as a plea to the labour minister that he ask the coroner’s office to set an inquest date in the van crash case.

The B.C. Fed further called for a full public inquiry into working conditions throughout the farming industry.

Also in attendance Saturday were the families and friends of five men killed and injured at a Langley mushroom farm last September after inhaling noxious fumes from a composting facility known as A1 Mushroom Substratum Ltd..

The operation is still running and attempted without success last month to restart the processing tank that claimed the lives of farm workers Ham Pham, Ut Tran and Jimmy Chan.

Two men lapsed into comas trying to rescue their fellow farm workers. One remains in a coma while another, Thang Tchen, has returned home unable to walk or talk.

A recent WorkSafeBC report said "an immediate danger" still exists on the property that "would likely result in serious injury, serious illness or death to a worker."

As many as 50 people still work on the mushroom farm, though the composting portion of the business has reportedly remained closed since the September incident.

At the weekend rally, Phuong Lee said her life was changed forever last September. Phuong is the wife of Michael Phan, the mushroom worker who remains institutionalized in a coma.

It was his young daughter Tracey’s words that moved the crowd to tears. New Democratic Party MLA Raj Chouhan, founding president of the Canadian Farmworkers’ Union, said he was particularly moved.

"That was very emotional," said Chouhan. "When she said, ‘I’m waiting for my dad. No one is there to help with my homework, no one is there to take me out.’ That was heart wrenching and hard for me to take."

Describing as "window dressing" the "few road checks" the government performed following the tragic van crash in 2007, Chouhan said the province has simply not done enough to protect the rights and safety of B.C.’s farm workers.

He said last year his party tried but failed to get government support to restore minimum wage and overtime pay protection for farm workers, who were exempted from those requirements in 2003.

And then, he said, there are the safety issues.

"I have raised the issue in the legislature so many times, they are just not interested," said the Burnaby-Edmonds MLA.

?"I have challenged, them, ‘How many deaths more do you want to see before you wake up?’

"Farming season is just around the corner and these accidents have been ignored."

Leading up to the May 12 provincial election, Chouhan plans to hammer home the demand for improved safety and equitable treatment for B.C.’s farm workers.

"Most of the farm workers live and work in the Surrey and Abbotsford areas," he said. "The issue is fairness and justice. These people should not be ignored. The government must pay attention."

Additionally, Chouhan accuses labour minister Black of "washing his hands and not taking responsibility" for the region’s many underpaid and overworked farm workers.

He said he was dismayed that Black did not meet with the group that arrived at his political doorstep at the weekend.

"An election is around the corner but the cabinet is still in place, he can do something," insisted Chouhan.

"They pass the buck and they don’t do anything."

For his part, Iain Black said in a recent CTV television interview that it is not his place to "interfere with politically independent and arms length organizations like WorkSafeBC, the coroner’s office and crown prosecutors."

He also accused the B.C. Fed of fear mongering and said "B.C. has the highest employment standards with respect to the agricultural industry in the country."

To Jagjeet Sidhu, as he leaves his grieving children with his weeping mother-in-law before driving off to work each night, these are hollow words.

"His comment is irresponsible," he said. "Mr. Black is part of government, a main part of government.