Water not Coal officially launches

By Lethbridge Herald on February 24, 2026.

Herald photo by ALEXANDRA NOAD Corb Lund visits with canvasser Chris Spearman at his Lethbridge kickoff held at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens Friday evening.

By Alexandra Noad

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter- Lethbridge Herald

It was a packed house at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens on Friday evening as people gathered to sign the Water not Coal petition, which was recently re-approved.

Singer, songwriter Corb Lund submitted the initial application for the petition late last year, which was approved, but only two days later cancelled due to changes in the Citizens Petition Legislation.

While the cancellation may have been a frustrating hurdle, it didn’t deter Lund from reapplying for the petition.

Lund kicked off the four-month canvassing period, where they need to collect 170,000 signatures, with events in Lethbridge, Calgary and Edmonton.

He says thousands of people were eager to sign up as a canvasser and schedule their own events across the province.

“There’s people springing up with events all over the place, it’s really taken a life of its own.”

Unlike many other political issues, Lund believes this is something many Albertans agree on no matter their background or political beliefs.

“It’s not just urban people, its First Nations people and small towns and people from all over the political spectrum.”

While hundreds of canvassers have already signed up, Lund expresses the need for more canvassers to make the petition successful.

He adds that canvassers are not required to go door-to-door, if they don’t want to.

“It doesn’t mean you have to pound on doors, you can just get your friends and family and workmates to sign.”

Lund has been an advocate against Grassy Mountains for the last six years and believes that while it may bring in a handful of jobs, the return-on-investment doesn’t make it worth it when you add in the long-term effects the mine will have.

“Jobs are not the only thing, it’s not a magic want that makes everything better on the other side because for the few hundred jobs for Grassy Mountain, it’s going to have an effect on the agriculture industry, tourism industry and it’s going to leave billions of dollars of cleanup for taxpayers.”

A full list of signing sites and information on how to become a canvasser can be found on waternotcoal.ca.