EDMONTON — Alberta country singer and rancher Corb Lund says the Water Not Coal citizen initiative petition has collected well over 200,000 signatures, comfortably surpassing the roughly 177,732 required to advance a proposal to ban new coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Organizers delivered the petitions to Elections Alberta as the June 10 deadline passed. Final verified numbers are expected in the coming weeks.
Lund, speaking after the announcement, described the four-month campaign as “a real grind” that left volunteers “exhausted” but proud of the outcome. Thousands of canvassers worked across the province and gathered signatures from nearly every one of Alberta’s 87 ridings, including rural communities, small towns, cities and First Nations.
“It’s been a very wide swath of the Alberta public who have said very clearly to the government that they don’t want more coal mining,” Lund said. “We had canvassers from every corner of the province.”
The petition question, vetted and approved by Elections Alberta, calls for legislation prohibiting all coal exploration and mining activities in the Eastern Slopes, other than mines already in production as of January 1, 2026.
Lund said he expects the government to place the question on the October referendum ballot exactly as worded and approved.
“We expect nothing less than the government to use our question as stated… precisely as it’s on the signature sheet,” he said. “Over 200,000 people signed it, knew what they were signing, because we’re required by law to have them read the question or read it to them as they’re signing.”
Lund was sharply critical of coal company environmental assurances, describing them as heavy public-relations efforts while companies historically lobby to weaken rules and treat fines as a cost of doing business.
On the economic side, Lund argued the projects offer limited upside for Albertans. Royalties are low, promised jobs are likely to be reduced through automation, and the long-term risk falls on taxpayers for cleanup costs that could run into billions of dollars decades from now.
“It’s a golden opportunity to save the taxpayer billions,” he said, framing the issue as one that should appeal to fiscal conservatives.
Lund stressed the campaign is not opposed to resource development in general and is focused on one specific type of project in a particularly sensitive area — the headwaters that supply drinking water for a large portion of the province and support a stable agricultural sector.
Polling consistently shows "70% to 80% of Albertans across the province oppose the mines," he said.
He dismissed attacks linking him to past professional work connected to the NDP, saying critics raising the issue are themselves heavily invested in the coal projects named in the petition.
The petitions now enter the verification process. If they are validated, the government has indicated the question would go to voters in October.
Verification, which includes detailed checks for originality, completeness, canvasser witnessing and random voter contacts, will take up to 21 days and must meet a 95% confidence threshold. Results are expected by July 1.