@CHED880:
“If she messes with the question, we’re gonna be on the streets with pitchforks.”
—@CorbLund asking Premier Smith to stick to her word….
“I’m not a radical leftist,” he says, but argues the gov. & coal CEOs aren’t telling the truth.
https://twitter.com/CHED880/status/206411410142542273
@nigelb.bsky.social:
And remember Premier Smith, Corb’s petition is a LEGISLATIVE initiative.
He isn’t asking for yet another referendum question.
All he, and petition signatories want is An Act to Prohibit Coal Mining on the Eastern Slopes.
Nothing could be more clear.
Smith and her vile Repuglican UCP will twist it, like they twisted the Forever Canadian petition.
Citizen Initiative Petition Received, Verification Begins
June 10, 2026
EDMONTON, AB – The signature period for the “No New Coal Mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains” citizen initiative petition ended June 10, 2026, and Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer Gordon McClure today received the petition and signature sheets from proponent Corby Lund.
The Chief Electoral Officer has also received a signed affidavit from the proponent that all copies of signature sheets have been destroyed, as required by section 6(1.1) of the Citizen Initiative Act.
Elections Alberta will now proceed with the citizen initiative petition verification process.
Amendments to the Citizen Initiative Act contained in Bill 23: Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2026, which came into force May 1, 2026, provides for changes to the verification process. Both the proponent and Minister of Justice can request scrutineers – lawyers and active members of the Law Society – to be present to observe the verification process. As required by section 10(2), the Chief Electoral Officer has provided notice to both the proponent and the Minister with the dates, times, and location of the verification process.
A citizen initiative petition requires signatures from at least 10% of the total number of votes cast in the previous provincial general election to be successful, in this case 177,732.
Next steps:
Elections Alberta has 21 days to verify the petition, using the method as prescribed in the Act to achieve a 95% confidence level.
The verification process includes:
- Confirmation that only the petition signature sheets as provided to the applicant were used in the collection of signatures;
- Confirmation that only original signatures have been collected, and individuals have signed the petition only once during the 120-day petition signing period;
- A review of each signature to ensure the required information was provided (full name, physical address, contact information, date, signature);
- Confirmation that each signature on the petition was witnessed by a registered canvasser and a canvasser signed each petition sheet;
- A statistically valid random sample to confirm the signatories’ addresses are in Alberta; and
- Contacting a statistically valid random sample of signatories to verify their information and they signed the petition.
As soon as practical after completing the petition verification and no later than July 1, 2026, Elections Alberta will report the verification results on the Elections Alberta website. If the petition is successful, Elections Alberta will submit a copy of the legislative proposal to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
Important: During the 21-day verification process, Elections Alberta staff will contact a sample of electors who signed the petition to verify their information and signatures, using the contact information recorded on the petition signature sheets. Electors who have signed the petition are asked to be prepared to verify their information, as they may be contacted.
If a phone number was listed in the contact information, randomly selected electors will receive a text message from Elections Alberta indicating we will be calling to verify their information. Elections Alberta’s name will appear on the call display. There is no need to call or text us back.
If an email was listed in the contact information, randomly selected electors will receive an email from Elections Alberta with the information to be verified. Electors will respond by email with the correct information in order to have their signature verified.
On May 1, 2026, the Chief Electoral Officer also directed that the Citizen Initiative petition verification process be amended. Verification will now include determining if any of the seeded names from the Republican Party of Alberta’s List of Electors are contained in any incoming petition. If any of the seeded names are included, further scrutiny will result.
Initiative Petition Background Information
The “No New Coal Mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains” citizen initiative application from the proponent is for a legislative proposal, requesting legislation prohibiting any new coal mining activity in the Eastern Slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.
The application was approved and the Notice of Initiative Petition issued on February 10, 2026. Please see: New Citizen Initiative Petition Issued – Elections Alberta
More information on the citizen initiative process, including recent changes to legislation, what happens next if a petition is successful, the status of citizen initiative petitions, proponent financing rules, third party advertising rules, and answers to frequently asked questions may be found on Elections Alberta’s website.
Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, and referendums.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Michelle Gurney
Media Relations
Phone: 403.431.0759
Email: email hidden; JavaScript is required
Posted in: Uncategorized
Alberta country music artist Corb Lund says anti-coal petition drive a success, Next step is to hand names over to Elections Alberta for verification by Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press, Jun 08, 2026
Alberta country music artist Corb Lund says his team has collected enough signatures to compel the province to take action to stop coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.
Lund didn’t say how many signatures were received, but almost 178,000 are required under provincial law.
The next step is to hand the names over to Elections Alberta for verification.
In a Monday news release, Lund said he will do that on the final official day of the petition campaign on Wednesday.
“Reaching this threshold proves what we’ve known all along — people care deeply about protecting our headwaters, our Rocky Mountains and our way of life,” he said.
The petition asked signers to endorse prohibiting new coal mining in the Rockies on the grounds it needlessly risks harming the environment, particularly water.
For the past four months, Lund’s effort — dubbed “Water Not Coal” — has gathered signatures at events, including a multi-day horseback ride from Longview, Alta., south of Calgary, to Edmonton.
The group said it registered more than 3,000 canvassers.
A successful petition would force Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative government to consider passing a law banning coal mining or sending it to a provincewide referendum.?????
Last month, Lund said even if they got the required signatures, he doesn’t necessarily trust Smith’s government will act on it.Me neither.
Laura Laing, a rancher and spokesperson for Water Not Coal, said they want permanent protection for water, agricultural corridors and the Rockies.
“This is what democracy looks like when citizens lead,” she said in the release Monday.
The UCP has said mining will be done with strict environmental safeguards while providing jobs and delivering a critical resource.Pffft. UCP lie. And lie. And lie. What they say means nothing. It’s impossible to mine for coal without contaminating water, air and land, and impossible not to corrupt communities as has already happened in the Crowsnest. It’s not a critical resource, humans can do without it.
Smiththe liar has said she supports direct democracy, and has invoked Lund’s petition as an example of her government giving voice to Albertans. Smith has already announced an Oct. 19 vote on whether the province should stay in Canada or kick-start a second referendum on whether to leave.
“I’ll be waiting to see whether or not [Lund and supporters] have the required signatures,” Smith said last month.
Her office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Should the signatures be verified, the province’s citizen-led initiative law requires the proposal to be put before a committee of lawmakers to make a recommendation to government on what to do with it.
The legislature is not scheduled to reconvene until Oct. 27.
The province has been wrestling with its coal policy for years.
- Alberta regulator opens public input for Northback coal mining project proposal
- Alberta to pay $95M settlement to another coal company over policy change
In 2020, the UCP removed decades-old rules that had protected the eastern slopes of the Rockies from open-pit coal mining. The province began issuing leases.
After a firestorm of public pushback, the UCP reinstated the protections and stopped selling exploration leases.
It has since announced a plan to ban mountaintop removal and new open-pit mines, but new regulations are still being finalized and advanced projects could still proceed through the approval processmeaning that mountaintop removal and new open pit mines are not banned. Never trust a fucking thing UCP say or do.
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