Country music artist Corb Lund is preparing to launch a provincewide signature campaign aimed at halting new coal mining along Alberta’s eastern Rocky Mountain slopes.
Following months of regulatory setbacks that temporarily cancelled Lund’s citizen initiative petition, Elections Alberta issued the petition this week.
He says organizers are now preparing canvassers and public signing events as the signature collection period can start from Feb. 11.
Petition targets new coal mining on Eastern Slopes
Lund’s citizen initiative calls on the provincial government to prohibit new coal mining activity anywhere along the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies, excluding mines already in production as of Jan. 1.
Lund says the campaign centres on protecting Alberta’s water systems.
“It’s important to me because I think the coal mines that they’re proposing are going to have a really bad effect on our water sources,” he tells Shootin’ the Breeze.
“There’s other issues too, like the mountains themselves will be affected, as well as the air quality. But the biggest issue is the quantity and quality of water.”
The approved proposal specifically names Northback Holdings’ Grassy Mountain project near the headwaters of the Oldman River and Valory Resources’ Blackstone project in Clearwater County.
Explaining why the two proposed coal mines are referenced, Lund says, “The Grassy Mountain mine they want to put at the headwaters of the Oldman River near Crowsnest Pass is going to have a very serious effect on that river. It’s a terrible place to put a coal mine.”
The Blackstone project was included because of its proximity to another major watershed. It is located in the headwaters of the North Saskatchewan River, a key source of Edmonton’s drinking water.
He notes that both projects are at similar stages in the regulatory process and represent the most immediate potential coal developments on the Eastern Slopes.
But he also emphasizes the petition is broader than those two projects.
“The petition question asked the government to prohibit any coal mining anywhere in the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies that isn’t an actively producing mine as of January 1, 2026. We specifically included Grassy Mountain and Blackstone [projects] within the wording of the question, because we wanted to be very clear that it includes those two,” Lund says.
Stepping into the coal debate
Lund decided to pursue a citizen initiative petition following years of advocacy efforts opposing proposed coal developments along the Eastern Slopes, particularly the Grassy Mountain project.
He says organizers and community members have been raising concerns since 2020, when the Grassy Mountain proposal was rejected by federal and provincial regulators, only to later re-enter the approval process.
“We have tried everything we can think of, and we’re still fighting the same coal mine we were fighting six years ago,” he says. “Having this petition and the citizens’ initiative was the next step, and the only thing we can think of left to do.”
According to Lund, ranchers whose land and water sources could be affected by mining were among the first to approach him about raising public awareness.
“They said they had been attempting to get the government’s attention and the public’s attention on the issue, and they weren’t having any success,” he says.
Before publicly advocating, Lund spent weeks researching the issue, meeting with industry representatives, government officials, conservation groups and agricultural producers.
“I educated myself on the issue,” he says. “And I came to the conclusion that ecologically, environmentally and economically, it’s a terrible idea to have coal mines in those areas.”
Lund adds that his involvement has included meetings with coal lobbyists and company executives, correspondence with government ministers, participation in protests and presentations at regulatory hearings.
He says the idea to use a citizen initiative gained momentum after a town hall meeting in June 2025, where Premier Danielle Smith encouraged residents concerned about coal mining to consider that route.
“She said, if you guys are concerned about coal, you should start a citizens’ initiative petition,” Lund says. “So that’s what we’re doing.”
He emphasizes his involvement is not tied to party politics.
“This has no partisan implications for me. It has nothing to do with one party or the other,” he says. “It’s just about keeping the water clean for everyone.”
Legislative setback and reapplication
The campaign experienced a significant interruption in December when Lund’s previously approved petition was cancelled following the implementation of Bill 14, legislation that amended Alberta’s citizen initiative framework.
In a Dec. 12 statement, Lund said Elections Alberta informed organizers the petition approval had been retroactively cancelled, requiring a new application under updated rules.
Bill 14 transferred certain decision-making powers from the chief electoral officer to the justice minister, nullified petitions issued after the legislation took effect, and allowed proponents to reapply within a defined window.
Lund describes the process as disruptive but says organizers chose to continue.
“It reflects a chaos that we’ve seen in this government’s handling of the coal issue in general,” he says. “But that’s fine. We’re happy to comply with whatever requirements the government needs us to do in order to stop the coal mines.”
He says organizers used that time to improve their organization and prepare for the campaign.
A new notice of intent was filed on Dec. 19, and Elections Alberta confirmed on Jan. 27 that the revised application met legislative requirements. The formal notice of approval of the initiative petition was issued, clearing the way for the next procedural steps.
Alberta’s chief electoral officer formally issued the petition on Feb. 10.
Mixed community response
Lund acknowledges that reaction in communities near proposed projects, including the Crowsnest Pass region, has been divided.
“The response from the people in Crowsnest Pass has been mixed, because some of them are extremely, loudly in favour of the mines,” he says, adding that others have privately expressed opposition.
He argues that the issue extends beyond local economic considerations, pointing to downstream water use and long-term environmental impacts.
“There’s a few hundred jobs involved, but that’s not the full story, because it’s going to affect the agricultural economy and it’s going to affect tourism,” he says.
“The biggest thing of all is that after the mining is finished, I guarantee that there will be a really, really large billion-dollar cleanup bill left for the taxpayer.”
Lund stresses that the opposition to new coal development is not confined to one political perspective. He describes a broad coalition that includes ranchers, irrigators, hunters, fishers and residents from both rural and urban communities, as well as First Nations, arguing the issue cuts across traditional political and regional lines.
Preparing for signature collection
With the application approved, the next steps include confirmation by the chief electoral officer that petition organizers have met the requirements to appoint a chief financial officer during the notice publication period.
That requirement has now been met, and chief electoral officer Gordon McClure has formally issued the citizen initiative petition.
The signature collection period runs from Feb. 11 to June 10, 2026.
Elections Alberta says registered canvassers, who must be eligible electors and follow the agency’s code of conduct, may begin collecting signatures during that 120-day window.
Meanwhile, organizers are recruiting volunteers and co-ordinating signing events across the province. Albertans interested in participating can find information through the campaign’s website waternotcoal.ca, including how to register as canvassers, support fundraising efforts and learn where signing opportunities will be available once collection begins.
Lund says organizers plan to host public signing events, set up stations at participating businesses and conduct door-to-door canvassing to gather signatures across the province.
A total of 177,732 valid signatures, which equals 10 per cent of ballots cast in the 2023 provincial election, are required for the petition to succeed. Elections Alberta will verify submitted signatures after the June 10 deadline.
What happens if the petition succeeds
Under Alberta’s citizen initiative rules, a successful petition would require the government to either introduce legislation reflecting the proposal or submit the question to a provincewide referendum.
“Our intention is for them to ban all future coal mining in the Rocky Mountains,” Lund says.
He emphasizes the campaign is focused specifically on water protection rather than opposition to resource development broadly.
“I’m not anti-resource development,” he says. “I know that we need resources and I know that we need jobs, but that doesn’t mean that every single project is a good idea, and this project is not a good idea.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2026.