Corb Lund restarts eastern slopes coal petition after Bill 14 changes the rules

Corb Lund has once again stepped into Alberta’s coal debate, this time by restarting a citizen initiative petition aimed at stopping new coal mining on the eastern slopes. The path to get here requires important steps, and the process matters.

Lund’s original application was approved by Elections Alberta in early December. Before the petition could be formally issued for signature collection, the provincial government passed Bill 14, which changed the citizen initiative process. Because the petition had not yet been issued, Elections Alberta advised Lund it was cancelled under the new rules and that he would have to start over. He subsequently filed a new notice of intent under the revised system. Lund has said he expects signature collection could begin in early February if Elections Alberta issues the petition, at which point his group would have four months to collect roughly 178,000 valid signatures.

That context matters because it highlights how petitions have become less about democratic engagement and more about political theatre. Filing paperwork is easy. Collecting nearly 178,000 verified signatures from eligible voters across Alberta is not. The system is designed that way for a reason.

Let me be clear. I am not anti petition. I am anti weaponizing petitions. These tools were never meant to be used as political ping pong. Recall petitions in particular were designed to serve as a serious check and balance when politicians or councils went off course. They once carried real weight and demanded accountability. Today that purpose has been eroded. Petitions are too often deployed as pressure tactics by ideological groups that cannot win elections and therefore attempt to govern through grievance instead. When every political disappointment turns into a petition, credibility evaporates. Albertans recognize the manipulation, which is why participation continues to drop. What was once a meaningful democratic safeguard has been reduced to noise.

What I find most offensive is the underlying assumption behind these campaigns. That blue collar workers somehow do not know what is good for them. That miners, tradespeople, heavy equipment operators and their families need to be saved from themselves by celebrity activists and professional petitioners. That quality jobs in southern Alberta are a problem rather than an opportunity.

Resource development built this province. It paid for hospitals, schools, roads and communities. It allowed regular people to earn a decent living without apology. Wanting good work is not greed. It is dignity. Wanting to provide for your family through honest labour is not ignorance. It is responsibility.

We also need to acknowledge the global reality we are operating in. With growing geopolitical instability and political antics south of the border, Canada needs resource development more than ever. Metallurgical coal, the coal used to make steel, is not found everywhere. Global supply is concentrated among a small group of countries, led by Australia, with the United States, Russia and Canada among the few major producers. Canada produces roughly 45 to 50 million tonnes of coal annually, with close to 60 per cent of that being metallurgical coal essential for steelmaking. Steel underpins modern life, from hospitals and bridges to energy infrastructure and transportation. Walking away from an abundant strategic resource that Alberta has in supply is not environmental leadership. It is economic self sabotage.

The fearmongering around coal has gone far beyond evidence. Science matters. Environmental monitoring matters. Regulation matters. But fear does not replace science and slogans do not replace data. Suggesting that responsible modern mining automatically equals environmental catastrophe is lazy and dishonest. It also ignores decades of improvement in environmental controls, water management and reclamation practices.

Petitions like this are not speaking for working families. They are speaking over them. And despite the noise, history shows that most of these efforts never come close to the required number of verified signatures. The thresholds exist for a reason. They are meant to demonstrate real widespread support, not online enthusiasm or social media momentum. My prediction is simple. This petition will not reach the numbers its supporters believe it will.

Working families are not climate deniers. We are not stupid. We understand balance. We understand stewardship. We also understand that a decent life requires good jobs, stable communities and the ability to work hard and be rewarded fairly for it. These are the people who do not sign petulant petitions. These are the people who do not confuse activism with action.

So go ahead, Corb Lund. Run your petition. Promote it loudly. You may find that the province you are trying to speak for has already made up its mind. Alberta was built by people who work for a living and those people still understand that honest work is not something to be ashamed of.