Over 50 people supporting the group Justicia for Migrant Workers along with community allies gathered outside the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario in Toronto, Feb. 17, 2012. (JACK BOLAND/QMI Agency)

TORONTO - The tragic deaths of 10 migrant workers in a collision near Hampstead, Ont., earlier this month might not have been in vain if their friends have their way.

More than 50 protesters gathered outside the chief coroner's office Friday calling for an inquest into the deaths to improve laws to protect all foreign employees in Ontario.

On Feb. 7, 10 workers, mostly from Peru, died and three were seriously injured when the van they were travelling in ran a stop sign and collided with a truck near Stratford. The driver of the van also died.

"The accident was tragic and shouldn't have happened. You can't justify an employer not providing a safe vehicle and a safe driver. This is personal to me because my dad was an immigrant. I want to give them a voice," said protester Susan Giampietri.

Migrant workers' lives are being put at risk, said Stephen Donahue.

"They get used up and then sent home and I don't think it is right," Donahue said.

Protester Stephen Campbell doesn't think Canadians understand the conditions migrant workers experience.

"I think the condition they face is a disgrace. We need to recognize the plight of the immigrant worker," Campbell said.

Laws to protect immigrant workers don't protect them, said protester Jessica Ponting.

"I worry about the three survivors. Their OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance) is going to expire and they will be forced to leave the country and they will fall into poverty," Pointing said.

"I want to show what happens to injured immigrant workers. It is unjust and I want to make sure it doesn't happen in the future."

Not all the details of the crash have surfaced, said Chris Ramsaroop, with Justice for Immigrant Workers.

"The only way to find out what happened is to have a coroner's inquest," Ramsaroop said.

Canada has to change the way it treats these people, said protester Tyler Shipley.

"It is unfair and cruel. I'm hoping, in the short-term, direct justice will prevail for those affected and in the long-term I want a change in the way we treat these people," Shipley said.

Migrant workers are vulnerable because labour laws don't adequately speak to their realities, said Tanya Ferguson, an organizer with Justice for Migrant Workers.  

"We need stronger protections so that tragedies like this don't ever happen again," Ferguson said.

"Family Day is meant as a time where communities come together and share time with their loved ones. We want to highlight that this year, and every year after, countless families of migrant workers will not have the luxury of having their loved ones present."

kevin.connor@sunmedia.ca