Vancouver bus driver killed on job is honoured with permanent sign
Posted October 11, 2022 1:37 pm.
Last Updated October 11, 2022 6:30 pm.
The Coast Mountain Bus driver who died of his injuries after an incident in downtown Vancouver last year has been permanently honoured.
A heart-shaped sign with Charanjit Parhar’s employee number at the centre of it has been installed at bus stop #50036, in the area of W Cordova Street and Homer Street. It will reside there permanently in his memory.
Bus stop number 50036 in Vancouver (CityNews Image)
The sign was installed by Unifor Local 111 and the Coast Mountain Bus Company.
“We wanted to do a memorial in the memory of our brother,” Unifor chapter President Balbir Mann told CityNews. “He was always smiling whenever he came to work.”
Mann says members of the union met with Parhar’s family near the anniversary of the incident on Sept. 23, beginning with a bus ride from the Vancouver transit depot to the stop where the tragedy happened.
Vancouver bus driver Charanjit Parhar was killed after he was pinned between two buses in downtown Vancouver on Sept. 21, 2021. (Charanjit Parhar)
“Just to put a little bit of closure [and to show] how much respect we had for our brother,” Mann said.
“[The] family was very emotional. Grandkids [of] Parhar also joined with going with us that moment. And it was very, very touching moments. Very sad day.”
On Monday, Sept. 27, 2021, Parhar was dealing with a mechanical issue when he was pinned between two buses. He was taken to the hospital where he later died of his injuries.
“I was sitting in my office when I had the phone call that there’s an accident in downtown,” Mann recalled. “We found on the way who it was. It was very, very shocking. Very hard working and honest man that I’ve ever met and he’s dearly missed by all of us.”
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Since the incident, precautions have been brought in to avoid future tragedies, Mann says.
“We’re making sure if there is another bus it does not come strictly behind the bus if the bus is broken down with the poles,” he explained. “We’re making sure from now on we educate our member brothers and sisters that if your bus does break down, just be extra careful.”
Parhar had worked for the Coast Mountain Bus Company for 21 years. He was 64 years old.
