A coal company targeted in a petition by country music artist Corb Lund says their Alberta project already enjoys public support.
It comes as Lund prepares to deliver his anti-coal mining petition to Elections Alberta later Wednesday.
Lund’s petition asked signers to endorse prohibiting new coal mining in the Rockies on the grounds it needlessly risks harming the environment, particularly water.
It takes aim at two potential projects, calling for them to be prohibited from getting the green light from provincial regulators.
The two are Northback Holdings’ Grassy Mountain project and Valory Resource’s Blackstone mine.
Poll results show support from the community
In a statement Wednesday, Northback said there is strong support for Grassy Mountain, demonstrated by polling and a non-binding 2024 referendum in Crowsnest Pass that saw 72 per cent of municipality residents in favour.
“If approved, the Grassy Mountain Project will produce high-quality steelmaking coal for global markets, provide hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefits and hundreds of direct jobs while adhering to the highest environmental standards,” the company said.
Valory CEO Ian Slater said in a Wednesday statement the company is committed to responsible development under Alberta’s environmental and regulatory standards.
“The facts are simple: this project will create jobs, support local communities, protect our land and water and help supply a resource the world continues to need,” Slater said.
Petition to revoke coal mining
Lund announced earlier this week that his team had collected more than the 178,000 signatures it needed to get the province to take action, but he didn’t share a final tally.
He has said the success of the petition goes to show how much Albertans care about headwaters and protecting the Rocky Mountains.
If Elections Alberta verifies the signatures, Premier Danielle Smith’s government would be forced to consider passing a law banning coal mining or sending it to a provincewide referendum.
Lund had said that even if they got the required signatures, he doesn’t necessarily trust Smith’s government to act on it, but he hopes they will bend to public pressure.
Justice Minister Mickey Amery’s office, when asked to comment earlier this week, said that the government will wait to see how the process plays out and for the final signature count from Elections Alberta.
Collecting signatures in Edmonton last month, Lund said he doesn’t believe the coal companies’ lofty promises of jobs, especially given increasing automation, nor does he believe promises of strict environmental stewardship.
“They will just pollute and pay the fines, because the fines aren’t big enough — it’s just the cost of doing business for them.”
He said what he believes would only be a handful of jobs per mine has to be weighed against potential impacts on the agriculture and tourism industries.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2026.