Alberta Coal Petition Rejected
Elections Alberta Rejects Corb Lund Anti-Coal Petition Due to Insufficient Valid Signatures
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Key Points
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The petition explicitly named and targeted particular coal projects, including Northback's Grassy Mountain (Crowsnest Pass) and Valory Resources' Blackstone project (Clearwater County), tying the initiative to ongoing local coal activity.
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Elections Alberta’s verification used a random statistical sampling method at a 95% confidence level, reducing validated signatures from 196,088 to 172,088 and leaving the petition short by 5,644 signatures.
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Some signatures were rejected because canvassers who served as witnesses submitted incomplete information, adding another layer of disqualification beyond duplicates and invalid dates.
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Elections Alberta reported that no seeded names were found during verification, indicating none of the signatures could be cross-verified with a seeded list during the process.
Elections Alberta has rejected country music star Corb Lund's "Water Not Coal" petition, ruling it fell short of the signatures needed to force a vote on banning new coal mining in the province's Eastern Slopes. National News Watch reported that only 172,088 signatures were validated — 5,644 short of the 177,732 required.
The petition initially appeared to have 196,088 valid signatures. But a random statistical check at a 95% confidence level cut that number significantly, sinking the effort led by Lund, a rancher and singer who has campaigned against coal exploration since 2020.
How the Signature Count Fell Apart
Elections Alberta did not simply count signatures and stop there. Officials used a random sampling method to check the quality of each submission. That process flagged duplicates, invalid dates, and incomplete information from canvassers who served as witnesses. Lethbridge News Now reported that many electors could not be reached or could not verify their own information.
The agency also noted that no "seeded" names were found during the check. Seeded names are planted test entries used to catch fraud. Finding none means that route of verification came up empty, adding further uncertainty to the count. The result was a drop of nearly 24,000 signatures from the initial tally.
Two Coal Projects Were Squarely in the Crosshairs
The petition did not take a broad swing at coal mining in general. It named specific targets. Juno News reported that organizers singled out Northback's Grassy Mountain project in Crowsnest Pass and Valory Resources' Blackstone project in Clearwater County. Both are active proposals that have drawn local opposition.
Lund has long argued that new open-pit coal mines threaten water supplies and ranch land in the foothills. The "Water Not Coal" name was chosen deliberately to frame the fight around rivers and drinking water, not just the coal industry itself.
Premier Smith Had Already Closed the Door
Even a successful petition may not have changed much. Premier Danielle Smith said before the results came in that the initiative would not appear on the Oct. 19 referendum ballot regardless of the outcome. Head Topics noted that the Alberta government has signaled it believes existing rules and ongoing reviews are enough to govern new coal projects.
That position has frustrated environmental groups and ranchers who wanted a direct public vote. With the petition now dead, opponents of the projects will need to find another path — likely through regulatory hearings or the courts.
What Organizers Must Do Now
The rejection comes with strict legal obligations. Chat News Today reported that organizers must return all petition materials to Elections Alberta, destroy any extra copies, and file an affidavit confirming they have done so — all by Monday. Financial reports covering the campaign's spending are due by Aug. 10.
Lund has not yet said publicly whether he plans to launch a new effort or shift strategy. The campaign gathered nearly 200,000 names in a province of roughly 3.3 million registered voters, showing real public interest — even if it was not quite enough to clear the legal bar.
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