Country artist Corb Lund in Calgary for coal mine ban citizen petition

After his previous attempt was cancelled and having to clear some regulatory hurdles, country singer Corb Lund is relaunching his petition to ban coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Continuing until 5 p.m. on Feb. 21 at the Alexandra Centre Society Dance Hall in the Inglewood area, Lund says this is a chance for all Albertans to have their voice heard on the issue and to “protect our Rockies and headwaters from coal development.”

Lund relaunched his “Water Not Coal” petition with a cross-province trip to Lethbridge, Calgary, and Edmonton, after it had been hampered by policy changes when it comes to citizen-led petitions. His previous petition on the same issue was approved last year by Elections Alberta, but was later cancelled after legislative changes by Danielle Smith’s UCP government.

It’s now certified to begin collecting signatures after the province’s chief electoral officer gave it the green light.

“I always tell people that I’m not political about this, I don’t have any affiliation to any of the parties, I don’t particularly like any of them,” Lund tells 660 NewsRadio.

“But, what’s going on is that there’s a bunch of coal mining that they want to bring in in really sensitive areas where our water sheds are — the headwaters of our rivers, in the foothills of the mountains.”

A 2025 Leger poll shows only 23 per cent of Albertans support coal exploration for mining in the eastern slopes, and only 27 per cent believe the economic impacts outweigh the environmental risks.

Lund says he did his homework before ever speaking out about this, speaking with the Canadian Coal lobby, provincial ministers, and coal company CEOs.

“I’m completely convinced that this is a terrible, crooked idea and it’s going to ruin our water, and the taxpayers are going to be on the bill for it in a couple of decades,” he said.

“It’s going to cause hell with our water, as well as ruining the mountains in that area, but the biggest thing is the air quality and the water quality — especially the water.

He says it’s almost impossible to do this kind of coal mining without ruining the groundwater and contaminating it with selenium and other contaminants.

Neil Kathol, a retired lawyer and environmental advocate, says the research the provincial government cites as a reason to go ahead with this isn’t consistent with what they say.

“The stupidity of our ministers saying in defence of coal mines, ‘We have scientists, including Colin Cooke, we have the science,’ and when we look at Colin Cooke’s science, he’s screaming out: ‘Don’t coal mine in the eastern slopes,'” he said.

Kathol reveals a binder filled with research on the effects of coal mining, particularly the toxic selenium leaching into soil and water, amid an interview with CityNews.

“The science says, if you put coal mining up there, blast the cap rock into particles, and allow rainwater and snowmelt to leach more selenium — it’s like a coffee-making process,” he explains.

“When you grind your coffee and allow hot water to leach coffee into your cup, that’s what we’re going to be doing in the mountains.”

And those chemicals can accumulate in the food chain downstream.

The UCP government lifted the ban on coal exploration in the eastern slopes early last year. And the Australia-based company Northback Holdings, which is proposing a steelmaking coal mine at Grassy Mountain, says it will boost the economy and create local jobs.

“We’re not idiots, we understand jobs are important. But the other side of that — just saying the word ‘jobs’ isn’t enough to mitigate all the downstream effects, right?” Lund said.

Meanwhile, the petition needs at least 178,000 signatures by June 10. If he’s successful, the Alberta legislature would then consider passing a coal mining ban or send the issue to a provincewide vote.

After his stop in Calgary on Saturday, he’ll be moving on to Edmonton on Sunday.

Lund says he wants to “knock this thing out of the park” with far more signatures than required.

Thousands of volunteers are already canvassing across the province.

With files from LIsa Grant