Corb Lund to pursue court challenge after Elections Alberta rejects coal-mining petition
The country musician fell just short of the 177,732 verified signatures needed after the agency's statistical sampling rejected thousands of names.
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Country musician Corb Lund says he's not accepting Elections Alberta's rejection of his coal-mining petition and plans to pursue a judicial review in the coming days.
Lund's Water Not Coal petition was ruled unsuccessful last week after the agency's verification process determined only about 172,000 signatures were valid — falling short of the 177,732 needed to force the province to act on concerns over new coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. A successful petition would have compelled Premier Danielle Smith's government either to ban new coal mining or send the issue to a provincewide referendum.
Lund delivered more than 207,000 signatures and said Elections Alberta counted 196,000 as valid. However, the agency used statistical sampling on random checks of authenticity, estimating 172,000 were verified.
"We're frustrated about this, but not surprised," Lund said Monday. "It makes me question to what extent we're living in a democracy."
Lund is questioning whether Elections Alberta followed its own rules. He said people reported receiving calls from unidentified phone numbers asking for personal information to verify their signatures. "If that was me, I'd hang up on them," he said.
Elections Alberta disputed Lund's claims, stating in a Monday statement that anyone contacted by phone received a text message in advance. The agency said signatures were rejected when contact information wasn't in service or when people were unable or unwilling to verify their information — not for failing to answer a phone call.
The petition was the first to undergo the new verification process following a massive breach of Alberta's voting list that prompted heightened scrutiny. Lund argues that breach made people justifiably wary of providing personal information to strangers calling from random numbers.
Premier Smith said Monday her government has already addressed coal-mining concerns "in substantive ways," citing land buybacks to preserve 400 square kilometres, a ban on mountaintop removal and open pit mining in future development, and requirements to use the best available water-management technology.
