A citizen initiative petition by Alberta country singer Corb Lund calling for a ban on all new coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains was officially relaunched at three events in different parts of the province.

The events — held in Lethbridge on Friday, Calgary on Saturday and Edmonton on Sunday — marked the start of the Water Not Coal petition campaign, which needs 177,732 signatures by June 10 to proceed to a vote.

“I just don’t think the majority of Albertans want their mountains, and especially their water, destroyed for minimal economic gain and and maximal ecological damage,” Lund told CBC News at Saturday’s event in Calgary.

The petition — which comes after a similar petition by Lund was cancelled last December due to recent legislative changes — calls for legislation to ban all new coal exploration and coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, with the exception of mines actively in production as of Jan. 1, 2026.

Lund, who hails from the southern Alberta town of Taber, has received numerous Juno, Canadian Country Music Association and Western Canadian Music awards and nominations. In recent years, he’s used his platform to speak out against coal mining in the eastern slopes.

“The entire handling of the coal situation right from the beginning has been utterly chaotic,” Lund said.

Lund said the ban he’s proposing would include the Grassy Mountain project near the Crowsnest Pass community of Blairmore, and the Blackstone project in central Alberta’s Clearwater County, operated by Northback Holdings and Valory Resources, respectively.

In an emailed statement, Valory spokesperson Glenn Vassallo pointed to the economic value of coal production, particularly the steel-making coal the company aims to mine.

“We are several years away from permitting what we expect will be a very important element of Alberta’s economy,” Vassallo said, referring to the Blackstone project.

“Alberta and B.C. are uniquely positioned to provide steel-making coal to the world responsibly,” Vassallo said.

“Much of the debate around coal in Alberta often overlooks the fact that today’s underground mining is science-based, regulated and fundamentally different from very outdated perceptions. … Valory is advancing a tightly regulated underground mining project designed to meet stringent environmental thresholds while delivering appropriate economic growth.” 

Brett Wilson, one of the investors behind Valory’s Blackstone project, “has been engaging directly on this petition with his friend Corb Lund,” Vassallo said.

Lund said opponents of the Grassy Mountain and Blackstone projects worry they would affect the quality of drinking water from the Oldman and North Saskatchewan rivers due to their respective locations.

A peer-reviewed study published last year found contamination from old coal mines in Alberta had been polluting nearby bodies of water, negatively impacting water quality and aquatic ecosystems.

“It’s already in the sensitive area,” Lund said, referring specifically to the Grassy Mountain project. “There’s already been legacy mining up there decades ago, and there’s already an overwhelming amount of selenium in some of the lakes up there, so the economics of the thing don’t make sense and the conservation elements of it certainly don’t make sense.”

Northback did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication, but on its website, the Australian-owned company says the Grassy Mountain project’s proposed coal mining activity would create new jobs and be done in “a way that manages environmental concerns and brings economic benefit.”

Coal mining has a long history in the Crowsnest Pass, with Northback’s goal being for the project to undertake coal mining in areas already impacted by previous industrial activity that took place there throughout much of the 20th century.

The Grassy Mountain project was rejected by both a review panel for the Alberta Energy Regulator and the federal government in 2021.

WATCH | Mining CEO says revised Northback plan reduces environmental footprint by 40%:

Coal development is a contentious subject in Alberta. In 2020, the province lifted its longstanding coal policy, which had prevented the development of open-pit coal mining in sensitive areas throughout much of the Rocky Mountains and other sensitive areas since 1976.

A year later, the provincial government reinstated that policy following significant public backlash, and put in place a moratorium on new coal exploration and coal mining in the eastern slopes in 2022.

But after the province was sued for billions by different coal companies due to its policy changes, the ban on coal exploration in the eastern slopes was lifted last year — paving the way for the Grassy Mountain coal exploration project to be approved several months later.

Coal has continued to make headlines, with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith facing significant pushback on the province’s coal policy during a town hall in Fort Macleod last June.

Lund said he’s been inspired by the recent outcry against coal development in the eastern slopes.

“People were so vocally against coal that the premier eventually said, ‘if you guys don’t want coal, you should have us a citizens initiative about it.’ So we took her at her word, and we put together a legal team and a bunch of sharp organizers, and that’s what we’ve done,” Lund said.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Smith said if Lund’s petition were to succeed, it would be among the questions of the province’s scheduled Oct. 19 referendum.

“Whether it’s the independence petition or the coal petition, if they get the requisite number of signatures, our intention would be to put those on the ballot at the same time,” Smith said.