Corb Lund says ‘ Water Not Coal’ petition drive has collected enough signatures - BERITAJA

Country euphony creator and confederate Alberta rancher Corb Lund says his squad has collected capable signatures to compel the state to return action to extremity ember mining connected the eastbound slopes of the Rockies.

Lund didn’t opportunity connected Monday really galore signatures the Water Not Coal run received, but almost 178,000 were required by the citizen inaugural petition rules.

The adjacent measurement is to manus the names complete to Elections Alberta for verification.

Lund said he will do that connected the last charismatic time of the petition run connected Wednesday.

The petition asked signers to endorse stopping coal-mining connected the eastbound slopes of the Rocky Mountains, connected the grounds it needlessly risks harm to the environment, peculiarly to water.

Lund argues ember mining successful the foothills threatens the full Eastern Slopes region and the headwaters that provender the Athabasca, Oldman, South Saskatchewan, North Saskatchewan, Peace and Red Deer stream systems.

A successful petition would unit Premier Danielle Smith’s authorities to see passing a rule banning ember mining aliases sending it to a provincewide referendum.

In December 2025, Lund applied and sewage the charismatic OK — but Bill 14 legislative changes later that period by Premier Danielle Smith’s authorities meant his petition was retroactively cancelled and he had to commencement over.

The new exertion was approved astatine the extremity of January and since then, canvassers crossed the state person been moving to cod support.

Elections Alberta rules for national inaugural petitions requires astatine slightest 177,732 verified signatures, representing 10 per cent of the full number of votes formed successful the past provincial election.

— With files from Karen Bartko, BERITAJA

More to come…