As the labour community in Sudbury gathered to observe the annual Day of Mourning in remembrance of fallen workers, the widow of a Sudbury man who died while operating a heavy crane in 2021 lashed out at local and provincial authorities for, in her view, stonewalling on the investigation.
The incident occurred on February 24, 2021, when crane operator Cody Proulx, 29, was driving a heavy mobile crane on the access road near the Vale’s Wabagishik Dam Project in Sudbury.
Details of the incident were revealed by his widow, Stephanie Proulx, during the Sudbury and District Labour Council's Day of Mourning ceremony this morning. Mrs. Proulx said investigators learned her husband, Cody Proulx, was not able to navigate the road during a heavy snowfall. The road had a small incline.
She told the audience at the Fraser Auditorium at Laurentian University on Friday morning that the large mobile crane had slid backwards down an incline and then the entire vehicle slid down an embankment and toppled over, resulting in her husband’s death.
"Cody was either thrown from the cab or attempted to save himself by jumping from the vehicle, police told me," said the widow.
She said there were no guard rails to stop the vehicle from leaving the road.
She said the danger of the situation was accentuated when firefighters arrived with other first responders. The firefighters, she said, parked their truck in the same spot where the crane had been located.
"The fire truck was parked and the firefighters exited the vehicle, police told me. Then while parked at a standstill, with no one inside the fire truck slowly slid off the road, police said," Mrs. Proulx told the audience.
"The fire truck toppled down the embankment and landed on Cody's crane with Cody pinned under the crane. This second so-called accident delayed Cody's recovery by hours I was told," Mrs. Proulx continued.
Mrs. Proulx said her husband had completed the job on the Vale property that morning and was preparing to leave the job site, when he was told to wait. He was told that the road conditions were too poor and the contractor needed to apply sand, she said.
"We were told by police that Cody was eventually given clearance to leave the site after the roadway was sanded. Police told us that they had unanswered questions about how road maintenance work was performed, including ‘contradictions’ in the evidence they were given," she said.
"Details about these issues, and whether they were resolved, were never provided to
me. Although Cody was given clearance to leave the site, the road remained hazardous,
according to information provided by police and others who were on the site that day."
She said conditions were so bad on the road that day that first responders and other safety officials who responded had a hard time to keep from slipping and falling.
"This is how treacherous and unsafe the road was," said Proulx.
"Given the circumstances that day, a winter storm with snow and freezing rain leading to road conditions that were quote 'not suitable for heavy vehicles' why couldn't this job be postponed for a day?" she asked.
Proulx said another issue was the absence of guard rails or barriers to stop vehicles from leaving the roadway. She said this was initially pointed out by the Ministry of Labour and within days, concrete jersey barriers had been installed on that portion of the road.
"It would be an understatement to say that the cost to do this was insignificant. But if it had been done sooner, it would have been life-saving," she said.
Mrs. Proulx said the Labour Ministry ordered several safety measures to be put in place at the site and requested reports and evidence from Vale and the contractors. She said this included requests for evidence on the nature and effectiveness of any assessment of hazards or risk associated with the access road
"It is among hundreds of pages of information related to Cody’s death that my family and I have been denied," said Mrs. Proulx.
Her biggest frustration she said is that nothing has happened as a result of the incident.
"Neither of the two separate investigations, by the Ministry of Labour and by Greater Sudbury Police, resulted in any action, to hold anyone accountable, for anything," she said.
"As I indicated earlier, the Labour Ministry and Greater Sudbury Police have denied me significant evidence and information related to Cody’s death."
A significant frustration said Mrs. Proulx is that she believed somebody or some corporation should be held responsible.
She said she believed the Westray Law would be enforced somehow. That is a federal law that was passed after the 1992 Westray Mine Disaster in Nova Scotia that decreed that corporations and corporate officials can be held criminally responsible when a worker is killed on the job.
She said she is disturbed that few prosecutions under Westray have occurred, especially considering that in 2014, Greater Sudbury council passed a resolution supporting the campaign’s goal to push for greater enforcement of Criminal Code provisions, such as the Westray Law, that are intended to hold employers criminally responsible for preventable workplace deaths.
"Following Cody’s death, my family and I discovered that neither the city nor the Greater Sudbury Police Service (GSPS) have taken the initiative to provide this increased, specialized education, training and direction to police officers assigned to investigate workplace deaths," said Mrs. Proulx.
She added that the United Steelworkers approached GSPS offering to provide the training to investigate incidents under the Westray Law, but the initiative fell apart, she said.
Several times during her address, members of the audience cried out "Shame, shame!"
Mrs. Proulx said her biggest disappointment is that no one has been forthcoming with information. She said she had been told that a Ministry of Labour investigation could take up to a year. She waited. No one advised her of anything, said Mrs. Proulx.
More than a year later, she was told the ministry had abandoned the investigation.
"The ministry official I spoke to said they assumed that the police would tell me. There was no clear explanation from the ministry for its decision to drop its investigation. There was a comment about ‘jurisdiction’ issues, without detail,” she said.
The jurisdiction apparently is tied to ownership of the access road. She said her first inquiry revealed the road was privately owned. Then she said she was surprised to learn the City of Greater Sudbury was responsible for the road, and that the Municipal Act allows the city to claim that responsibility.
Mrs. Proulx said, in her mind, it seems the Labour Ministry views this fact that this somehow absolves Vale and contractor of any responsibility for worker safety on that portion of the road. She said it is confusing.
As she concluded her speech to the gathering Friday, Mrs. Proulx said she was not pleased that Vale offered words of condolence through a public news release.
"Vale told the public that it was ‘doing everything we can’ to support Cody’s family, and other loved ones devastated by his death," said Mrs. Proulx.
"I can assure you that the ensuing two years have proved that this statement was completely disingenuous. Vale certainly did not ‘do everything it could’ to help my family and me. In fact, they did not provide any support to us, of any kind."
She said she wanted only an acknowledgement that the company "with all their wealth, and resources, and influence" could have done more to make the road safe.
As her speech ended, there was just a brief silence in the Fraser Auditorium, which was then followed by a standing ovation.
D’Arcy Gauthier, president of the Sudbury and District Labour Council said he had not previously heard any of the details of the death. He said the comments were disturbing, but “not surprising”.
“As a worker, we are constantly reminded that we're insignificant,” Gauthier said. “The fact that, you know, the government, both levels of government, the province and the municipality, and Vale works in concert to, you know, abdicate themselves of their responsibility is not surprising, because we hear these stories all the time. So … it's tragic, but it's not surprising.”
Two Day of Mourning ceremonies were held in Sudbury today. The first, by the Sudbury and District Labour Council, was held this morning. A private ceremony at the Steelworkers Hall on Brady Street was held earlier this afternoon. Sudbury.com will have coverage of both ceremonies later today.
Len Gillis covers mining and health care for Sudbury.com.
