Thousands of signatures collected, sent to Alberta legislature in coal mining fight

A petition against coal mining that garnered nearly 7,000 signatures has officially been submitted to the Alberta legislature.

The Water for Food group has sent the petition to the Alberta legislature for review.

The petition comes following the referendum vote held for those in the Crowsnest Pass on whether to allow coal mining at Grassy Mountain.

Pass residents voted 72 per cent in support of the development.

But those with the Water for Food group say the vote excluded the 200,000 people living downstream.

“After the non-binding plebiscite in the Crowsnest Pass, Energy Minister Brian Jean had said democracy had been served. And those of us that live outside of the Crowsnest Pass thought, well, we didn’t get a chance to vote and we felt excluded, and we didn’t think democracy had been served,” said Chris Spearman with Water for Food.

“So, we looked into options and we found this official petition to the Alberta legislature.”

The group says the petition will be presented inside the Alberta legislature in the coming weeks.