EDMONTON -- Elections Alberta says a petition calling for a ban on new coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, spearheaded by musician and activist Corb Lund, has failed.
The Water Not Coal initiative needed almost 178,000 signatures to force Premier Danielle Smith's government to consider passing a law banning new coal mining or send it to a provincewide referendum.
Three weeks ago, Lund delivered what he said were more than enough names to force the issue.
Smith later kiboshed the possibility of including an anti-coal mining question on the province's Oct. 19 referendum, saying last month it was too late to get it on the ballot.
Her United Conservative Party government is putting 10 questions on the referendum, including one asking Albertans whether they want the province to remain in Canada or to hold a second, binding referendum on secession.
Elections Alberta, the body in charge of administering votes, said they needed to receive all questions by June 1 to prepare for the referendum, in part because they need time to staff up.
The agency said in a news release Friday that 196,000 valid signatures were counted from the anti-coal petition, but only about 172,000 were verified.
It said some signatures were rejected, because they were missing contact information to verify them.
Lund said that with thousands of canvassers, he believed they had more than 200,000 signatures in hand.
Spurred by like-minded cattle ranchers and local advocates, Lund said they don't trust foreign coal companies' promises of strict environmental stewardship.
His campaign focused on protecting agriculture and, he said, drinking water for potentially millions of people.
"It's the soul of the province," Lund said in late May during the final drive for signatures.
"Nobody wants this."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2026.