Corb Lund rallies coal petition supporters in Okotoks

After months of signature-gathering uncertainty, the Water Not Coal petition is in the home stretch—and organizers are confident they have the numbers.

Petition spokespeople said June 8 they have enough signatures to proceed under Alberta's Citizen Initiative Act. The Water Not Coal campaign, which calls for legislation prohibiting new coal mining and exploration on Alberta's Eastern Slopes, needs 177,732 verified signatures. The deadline is June 10.

Alberta musician Corb Lund was in Okotoks and High River on Monday to collect final petition sheets and thank volunteers who spent four months knocking on doors and tabling at community events.

"The premier has said over and over and over in public that if we do get our number, she'll put us on the referendum," Lund said.

Lund was upbeat about the push's momentum, especially as the deadline approached. "A lot of the public realized that the deadline was coming, so they've all come out," he said. "We're pretty confident now."

Early in the campaign, organizers were anxious. "We were having strokes and heart attacks a couple weeks ago because we didn't really know," Lund said. But petition sheets collected recently show strong support.

If the petition has enough verified signatures—Elections Alberta has 21 days to verify once sheets are submitted—it goes to a legislative committee. That committee will decide whether to recommend passing a law or putting the question to a referendum.

Lund said he expects a referendum. His main concern now is whether the wording gets changed if the question lands on a ballot. "We spent a ton of time crafting that question exactly how we want it," he said.

The Eastern Slopes coal issue has become a defining environmental fight in Alberta, with ranchers, conservationists, and Indigenous communities opposing new mining on land crucial to water systems and wildlife. Lund's involvement has brought grassroots credibility to what might otherwise feel like a distant provincial fight.