At a Coal Town Hall event in Ft. Macleod in the summer of 2025, Danielle Smith challenged country singer Corb Lund to hold a public initiative petition to prove the majority of Albertans are against coal mining of the Eastern Slopes. She promised that a successful petition would be added to the planned referendum.
On June 9th, Water Not Coal submitted 200,000+ signatures to Elections Alberta for validation. The validation process has 21 days to achieve the required confidence that the petition exceeded the threshold to have the question added to the October 19th referendum in Alberta.
The question would read: ““The Government of Alberta shall prohibit by law any and all new coal mining activities, including new approvals and permits, within the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.”
Corb Lund applauded Albertans for “show[ing] up for their water, their land, and their future. … people care deeply about protecting our heatwaters, our Rocky Mountains, and our way of life.”
Kudos to Corb Lund, the Water Not Coal team, and the 3000+ canvassers active in collecting signatures.
Coal mining in the Rockies has left a legacy of pollution downstream and downwind. The proposed open-pit coal mines represent a threat to clean water and clean air. A healthy headwaters remains critical as the source of our water – the Oldman, the South Saskatchewan, the Athabasca and Peace rivers, and the North Saskatchewan and Red Deer rivers all depend on the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains to provide clean, reliable flows. This water supports our community drinking water, our agriculture, and our aquatic and riparian ecosystems.
The next step will be to engage in public education, making Albertans aware of the importance of our Eastern Slopes to our health and livelihoods.