Elections Alberta rejects Corb Lund’s ‘Water Not Coal’ petition

Elections Alberta has rejected musician Corb Lund’s ‘Water Not Coal’ petition, saying it failed to meet the requirements for a citizen initiative petition.

Lund submitted the petition last month. It called on the province to ban all new coal mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

To be successful, the petition required 177,732 signatures, representing 10 per cent of electors in the last provincial election. The ‘Water Not Coal’ petition did meet that threshold on paper, with more than 196,000 signatures.

However, Elections Alberta says the number of verified signatures dropped after applying a random statistical sampling method, with only 172,088 verified.

As to why some signatures were rejected, Elections Alberta says during the validation process they found duplicate signatures, or others with invalid dates or incomplete information, as well as incomplete signatures from canvassers serving as witnesses.

Then, during the verification phase, some signatories were unable or unwilling to verify their information, Elections Alberta says, or there was no valid contact info to reach them.

Now, organizers have until Monday to return all petition and canvasser identification documents to Alberta, destroy any additional copies of signature sheets, and submit a signed affidavit confirming they’ve done so.

Financial reports are due to Elections Alberta by Aug. 10.

Canvassers collected signatures between February and June 10. The petition specifically referenced Northback’s Grassy Mountain project in Crowsnest Pass, and Valory Resources’ Blackstone project in Clearwater County.

Premier Danielle Smith had previously said the question would likely not be included on the Oct. 19 referendum, saying there would not have been enough time to include it on the ballot if it had been verified successfully.

More to come