Anti-coal mining petition launched by Corb Lund unsuccessful: Elections Alberta

Singer Corb Lund, centre, speaks to the media on land proposed for coal mine development in the eastern slopes of the Livingstone range south west of Longview, Alta., Wednesday, June 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Elections Alberta says a petition by musician and activist Corb Lund to stop coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains was unsuccessful.

The agency posted the results of its verification on Friday morning.

Under Alberta law, 177,732 signatures were required for the petition to be successful.

Although Elections Alberta found 196,088 valid signatures were collected, there were only 172,088 verified signatures after a random statistical sampling method was applied with a 95-per cent confidence level, as per the Citizen Initiative Act Section 6(5).

Elections Alberta says the primary reasons signatures were rejected during the validation process included incomplete elector information, invalid dates, electors signing the petition more than once, and incomplete or improperly completed canvasser signature witnessing declarations.

The main reasons signatures were rejected during the verification phase included electors being unable or unwilling to verify information on the petition sheet and not providing valid contact so they could be reached for verification.

No seeded names were found on the petition according to Elections Alberta.

As such, the agency says the petition was not successful.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith had already announced that the petition would not be included in the upcoming Alberta referendum, even if it had been declared successful by Elections Alberta.

More to come…