Water Not Coal citizen initiative stops in Red Deer for signatures

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As a result, on Wednesday, June 10, Lund, alongside Water Not Coal organizers, will deliver the signatures to Elections Alberta in Edmonton.

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Lund explained that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has told him that his petition will be on the referendum this October if they gain enough signatures. He added that he assumed that it would still happen.

“What we’ll be watching for is to make sure the government doesn’t mess with our question because we’ve had a couple of hundred thousand sign it and read it. We are counting on the government not to change it because we have it very specifically worded for a reason,” he said.

“The Premier told me in person that she doesn’t think they’ll change our question unless it’s a legal or financial issue. The whole thing is a legal issue, so I’m not sure what that means exactly.”

Lund explained he’s looked into this from all angles and has met with people from both sides, but believes there’s very little upside to these mining projects.

The main goal of the petition is to call on the provincial government to protect the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains and their waters that supply drinking water across Alberta from proposed coal mining projects, which Lund said could impact water quality.

More specifically, the petition question is as follows:

“The Government of Alberta shall prohibit through legislation all coal exploration and mining activities within the Eastern Slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, other than mines that are in actual production as of January 1, 2026. For clarity, this prohibition includes Northback Holdings’ Grassy Mountain Project and Valory Resources’ Blackstone Project, as well as any projects to expand any producing mines.”

In a previous interview, Rina Blacklaws, vice president of industry development at the Coal Association of Canada, said it’s important to understand the value of critical resources like metallurgical coal, which is used to make 70 per cent of the world’s steel.

In addition, she said when it comes to any type of mining project, they need to first go through a very strict regulatory review before it is approved.

Red Deer resident Laurie Ferguson said she signed the petition because she feels strongly about protecting water in Alberta.

“[The waters] are more important than I think a lot of people understand right now, and if we give them away and let them pollute it, we’ll never get it back again,” she said. “In the long run, it’s worth more than the short-term gain for a bunch of billionaires that just want to make a quick smash and grab and take it… I had family in B.C. that was affected by the Teck coal mine, so I’m very aware of what this company can do and how little recourse there is.”