UPDATED - Feb. 11 at 11:33 a.m.:
A community group called Community Activists Need Answers Regarding Your Safety (CANARYS) is holding a rally at the Copper Cliff smelter picket line Feb. 15 at 2 p.m.
In a press release, the group said it is holding the rally “to voice our concerns about the safety of bringing in replacement workers to re-start production in the mines." It said citizens are "not willing to be Vale Inco's canaries in the mine shaft."
Several members of the group, including one person dressed as a human-sized canary, showed up at the Feb. 10 city council meeting to raise awareness of their cause.
The press release also said “Vale Inco has recently mailed out fridge magnets to residents in the immediate area of the mines, warning them what to do in case of an emergency leak or spill. Although we've seen these magnets before, the timing reminds us that mining presents real dangers to both workers and the community."
The group said it plans to pressure Vale Inco to cancel plans to re-start production using replacement workers because “it is unsafe for our community.”
The group also plans to “pressure our municipal, provincial and federal governments to defend and protect the health of Sudbury's citizens by stopping Vale Inco from operating the mines during a strike.”
