Corb Lund pushes to June 10 deadline on coal mining petition

Corb Lund is racing against the clock. The country musician has until June 10 to collect roughly 178,000 signatures for a citizen-initiated petition that would force the Alberta government to either ban coal mining on the Rocky Mountain eastern slopes or put the question to a provincewide vote.

"Until we get the sheets in, we're all just having strokes and heart attacks," Lund said in a recent interview before a sold-out Edmonton show where he also gathered signatures.

The petition application proposes legislation prohibiting any new coal mining activity in the Eastern Slopes. Lund has mobilized over 3,000 volunteers and has been collecting signatures since February 11.

This is his second attempt. His first petition was approved last year but cancelled when Premier Danielle Smith's government changed the rules for citizen-led petitions in December. Lund filed new paperwork, received approval, and restarted the signature drive.

"We've been flip-flopped on and nickeled and dimed and loopholed so many times on this that we're asking for firm, robust legislation prohibiting coal mining on the eastern slopes," Lund said.

The province has said mining will proceed with strict environmental safeguards while providing jobs and delivering a critical resource. It announced plans to ban mountaintop removal and new open pit mines, though new regulations are still being finalized and advanced projects could still proceed through the approval process.

When asked if he trusts the process, Lund said "everything seems to just be chaos." Even if signatures reach the target, he said, the government may not act. "I would rather have them do the right thing, but I'm under no illusion that if we get our number of signatures, the government's all of a sudden gonna say, 'We're sorry, we'll fix it.'"