Judicial review request challenges denial of Corb Lund’s anti-coal petition

EDMONTON — Organizers of a petition to ban new coal mining on the eastern slopes of the Rockies have filed for a judicial review, challenging Elections Alberta’s decision that the petition failed.

The agency announced earlier this month that the anti-coal petition led by country singer Corb Lund didn’t gain enough verified signatures to move it forward.

Lund said at the time that roughly 35,000 signatures for the petition were rejected by Elections Alberta and that he had grave concerns about the fairness of the process.

The Water Not Coal petition drive needed almost 178,000 signatures to force Premier Danielle Smith’s government to consider passing a law banning new coal mining or sending it to a provincewide referendum.

In June, Lund delivered what he said were more than enough names to force the issue.

The review application to Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench argues the decision was unreasonable, procedurally unfair and inconsistent with the purpose of the Citizen Initiative Act.

Lund said more than 200,000 Albertans signed the petition in good faith and they deserve a fair and reasonable process.

“We believe Elections Alberta applied standards that were stricter than the law requires, and that thousands of Albertans were effectively shut out by verification processes that don’t make sense,” he said in a statement.

“This judicial review is about ensuring that citizens’ voices weren’t lost in technicalities.”

The elections agency said when it did random checks on the authenticity of names, statistical sampling led them to estimate 172,000 were verified, causing the petition to fail.

The judicial review request asks the court to set aside the decision, declare the petition successful or return the matter to Elections Alberta for reconsideration.

Elections Alberta said it has a clear and rigorous system and uses a statistical sampling process that was reviewed and approved by Alberta Treasury Board and Finance.

“People have a right to seek a judicial review, and we support that process,” the agency said Thursday in an email.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2026.

Daniela Germano, The Canadian Press