Country singer Corb Lund gets OK to launch anti-coal petition drive in Alberta

Corb Lund sings on land proposed for coal mine development in the eastern slopes of the Livingstone range on June 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Singer Corb Lund has been given the go-ahead to soon start collecting signatures for a petition to ask the Alberta government to pass a law banning new coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Elections Alberta posted the official OK on its website Monday.

Lund, who has received multiple Juno and Canadian Country Music Association nominations and awards, lives in southern Alberta and has been a vocal opponent of coal mining.

In his application for the petition, he said he’s seeking the intervention because mines could threaten land and water in the area.

“I get a lot of flak about being a celebrity or whatever and I should shut up and sing. And it’s like, well, I drink that water, like, I drink the water out of the Oldman River,” Lund said in a phone interview from Las Vegas, where he has been performing.

“My animals drink the water, my mother drinks the water. So I’m not a guy flying in from L.A. on a private jet. I am a sixth-generation rural Albertan, and I’m just trying to get the water clean.”

He added: “There’s no subterfuge, there’s no hidden agenda. It’s just we don’t want coal mining in the headwaters of the Rocky Mountain rivers. Simple.”

Once Lund has completed some other housekeeping matters over the next few days — such as appointing a chief financial officer — the signature collection can officially start. Lund then has four months to gather signatures equal to 10 per cent of votes cast in the last general election — almost 178,000.

If successful, the legislature would consider passing a law to ban coal mining or send it to a provincewide vote.

Leading up to Monday’s petition approval, Lund said, he has been preparing a team of canvassers to help him.

They’ll also be the ones to oversee the work of gathering signatures in March while he’s on tour across the United States.

He said he’s confident that the issue will both extend beyond partisan lines and appeal to urban and rural Albertans to draw signatures from around the province.

It’s the latest in a string of petitions underway to force government action on everything from recalling politicians to confirming Alberta’s place in Confederation.

Asked for comment, Premier Danielle Smith’s office directed reporters to her earlier public comments.

Lund recently said it was Smith and her government’s pursuit of coal mines that inspired him to get to work.

Asked last month to respond, the premier said: “I’m glad I’m able to be his muse.”

“Maybe he’ll write a song about me,” she said.

“I support citizen-initiated referenda — I think it’s really important that people have their say — so the rules are out there and I’ll watch with great interest.”

Alberta’s coal policy has been on a roller-coaster ride in recent years.

The United Conservative government rescinded a decades-old coal policy in 2020 to reopen much of the eastern slopes to mining. They rolled back on that the following year due to public outcry.

However, the government reignited the debate in 2024 when it introduced rules banning new mines on the slopes but exempting advanced projects like Grassy Mountain near Crowsnest Pass.

Dayne Patterson, The Canadian Press