Sudbury

Vale calls back workers on day of miner's funeral

Family, friends and co-workers of Stephen Perry will gather later this morning in downtown Sudbury.

Some crews to return to work on safety related tasks

Brittany Boyd-Perry stands with her father Stephen Perry. The pair lived in Chelmsford. Steve was killed in a mining accident Sunday.

Family, friends and co-workers of Stephen Perry were to gather Friday morning in downtown Sudbury.

The 47-year-old miner was killed in an accident at Vale's Coleman Mine on Sunday.

The funeral was to begin at 10 a.m. at Christ the King Church.

Meanwhile, investigators are trying to determine what caused the third death of a Sudbury miner in the past eight months.

All five of Vale's Sudbury area mines have been closed since the accident, however some crews will return to work Friday.

Mines down since Sunday

About 1,600 underground employees have been off work with pay since Sunday. Vale said employees who return today will work on safety-related tasks. The company noted a decision has not been made on when production work will start again in its mines.

On Thursday, MPs from all parties stood to applaud and honour Perry following a statement by Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle’s statement in the House of Commons.

"These are tragedies felt by the entire community," Gravelle said. "At the end of the day, all a miner wants to do is earn a good living and go home to his family. Today I am also thinking of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram who were killed underground only seven months ago in Sudbury."