THE HURTIN ALBERTAN 

Alberta country stars band together on song opposing Rocky Mountain coal mining

EDMONTON — When Alberta country singer Corb Lund wrote a song 12 years ago about a rancher determined to defend the landscape he loves against encroaching development, it was just a campfire yarn

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

"It was just kind of a story, a fictional story," Lund said.

Events have since caught up to the tune "This Is My Prairie." The summits and foothills of Alberta's Rocky Mountains have been leased along a vast stretch of their range for coal exploration and a series of companies have announced plans for open-pit mines.

Lund's imagined defender was suddenly very real.

"This coal thing happened and I looked at (the song) and it was just word for word," Lund said from his home in Lethbridge, downstream from the proposed mines.

"It occurred to me that this might make a good reissue and then it occurred to me that maybe we should recruit a few more people. I called up some people who had been supporting me on Twitter and they were all for it."

Lund, together with a posse of pals, have re-recorded and re-released the song as what Lund hopes will become an anthem of opposition to mining development in the Rockies.

Fellow country stars Terri Clark, Brett Kissel and Paul Brandt joined in. Cree-Dene singer Sherryl Sewepagaham also sings a verse in Cree.

"They can drill, they can mine, over my smouldering bones," the song opens. "This is my Prairie, this is my home."

Lund hasn't been shy about his opposition to the mines, speaking out on social media and in news interviews. Apart from mining's impact on the area's beauty, he's concerned about its effect on water supplies and contamination in a perennially dry region.

"It's important that we stress this is a non-political issue. This is a water issue. Rural people are upset, First Nations people are upset, urban people are upset. This is very wide-ranging."

Lund, who promised any revenue from the re-release will be donated to grassroots groups opposing the mines, said while the public controversy about the developments may have subsided, the fight hasn't ended.

"It's hard to keep the public engaged. There hasn't been a lot of things in the news. One of the main things about releasing this now is that we have to remind people that this is far from over."

The province is waiting on a report from a panel that has spent the last several months hearing from Albertans about how — or if — coal mines should be allowed near the headwaters of most of the province's drinking water. That panel is expected to deliver its report to Energy Minister Sonya Savage on Nov. 15.

The head of that panel, Ron Wallace, said this week that most of the submissions are "strongly opposed" to mining.

Nobody will be keener to see the panel's recommendations than the musicians of "This Is My Prairie."

"We're going to insist that we see those," said Lund. "If the government thinks they can take those recommendations and put them on a shelf, we're going to be squawking about that."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2021.

— Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

Corb Lund x Terri Clark x Brett Kissel - This Is My Prairie (Official Music Video)

Oct 19, 2021

Corb Lund

Official video for "This Is My Prairie" by Corb Lund featuring Brett Kissel, Terri Clark, Sherryl Sewepagaham, Paul Brandt, Armond Duck Chief, Katie Rox and Brandi Sidoryk (Nice Horse). Stream/

Buy here: https://corblund.lnk.to/TIMP 

Produced by Ryan HK @ryanhk.com 

LYRICS: 

This is my prairie, this is my home 

I'll make my stand here, and I'll die alone

 They can drill, they can mine

 o'er my smouldering bones 

(Cuz) this is my prairie, this is my home 

The water is poison, my calves are all dead 

My children are sick, and the river’s been bled 

They want a big coal mine, right thru Pop's grove 

But this is my prairie, this is my home 

I can't blame the miners or the guys drivin’ truck 

For feedin’ their families and makin’ a buck 

But take a close look at the stock that you own

Cuz this is my prairie, this is my home

 I don't got the money that lawyers can buy

 I don't got my own government's laws on my side

 But I still hold the title that my granddaddy owned 

And this is my prairie, this is my home

 Nîya ôma nitaskî, nîya ôma nîkih N'ka nipawan ôta n'kapon pimatisin ôta Kwayask itôta manâcitâ askî They can drill and they can mine o'er my mouldering bones

 (Cuz) this is my prairie, this is my home 

This is my prairie, this is my home

 I'll make my stand here, and I'll die alone 

They can drill and they can mine o'er my mouldering bones

 (Cuz) this is my prairie, this is my home

  #corblund #thisismyprairie

Corb Lund wants UCP front-runners to promise ban on new coal mines: 'It's a stupid idea'

Corb Lund in a social media video posted on September 20, 2022 

(Source: Facebook).

Sean Amato
CTV News Edmonton
Published Sept. 21, 2022

Alberta country artist Corb Lund delivered a familiar tune with a fresh twist Tuesday, when he called on UCP leadership candidates to make their coal policies "crystal clear" ahead of the final votes being cast.

Lund went public in January 2021 with his criticism of plans to establish new coal mines in and around the province's Rocky Mountains.

The outcry from him and others prompted the United Conservative Party government to back down from its position to remove a coal policy that had been in place since 1976.

"The government would like you to think that the coal issue in Alberta has been dealt with and has been put to bed, and it very much has not been," Lund stated in a Twitter video.

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"All the indications I've seen and heard is that the foreign coal companies are working away in the background, biding their time, trying to get those mines in, whether the Alberta public wants it or not."

Lund argues that the risk of polluting water and agricultural land is not worth a "handful of jobs" in new mines. He worries long-term effects could harm the farming and tourism industries that other workers rely on.

"I'm not against resources, I'm not. I'm just against this idea cause this is a stupid idea. There should not be any new coal mines in the Rockies in Alberta," Lund stated.

Lund named frontrunners Brian Jean, Travis Toews and Danielle Smith and asked for their platforms on coal.
BRIAN JEAN

Jean responded to Lund by saying he shares concerns about Alberta's watershed. He didn't, however, specifically say he would ban all new mines.

After speaking with ranchers in the foothills of southern Alberta, Jean stated he is against "the Kenney government's efforts to dramatically expand coal mining."

"These folks who have always been conservative voters know that in B.C., just over the Rockies, there have been water problems with coal mining companies not doing things right. We have to do things better in Alberta.

TRAVIS TOEWS

Toews also tweeted a response to Lund that did not commit to stopping new mines.

Instead, Toews promised to implement the recommendations of the Alberta Coal Policy Committee which he feels will improve consultation, reclamation and Indigenous input on mines.

"Implementing these recommendations will create the certainty that investors need to commit to new projects, creating jobs and keeping communities vibrant," Toews stated.

Smith did not respond to Lund on Twitter. A spokesperson for her told CTV News Edmonton that he would work on getting a response from the candidate.

Alberta's website said Wednesday that coal lease sales and exploration activity remain paused

on lands classified as Category 2 in the Coal Policy and that changes would be subject to "widespread consultation."

Lund is asking a fair question, political scientist Lori Williams said, adding it's a shame it wasn't asked before UCP mail-in voting began.

Candidates have spent most of the race speaking about Alberta autonomy, COVID-19 policies, and "freedom" rather than healthcare, affordability and issues like coal mining, Williams pointed out.

"They really have not addressed the front and centre issues for most Albertans. I think it's a failure of the race, a failure of the candidates and it may lead to their failure as candidates or as a party in the next election," she told CTV News Edmonton.

Mail-in voting in the UCP leadership race started earlier this month and in-person voting and results are scheduled to happen Oct. 6.

With files from The Canadian Press

ALBERTA NDP ELECTION ADS MAY 2023

Corb Lund calls on ban to Rocky Mountain coal mining

CityNews

May 3, 2023

One of Alberta's most popular musicians says protections for Rocky Mountains against coal mining should be a non-partisan issue in the provincial election.

HEY CORB LUND

Corb Lund, Terri Clark, Paul Brandt, Brett Kissel release anti-coal mining "anthem"

Bridge City News

Oct 20, 2021

Country musician Corb Lund, along with artists from across Alberta’s country music spectrum, have released a song many are calling an anthem against proposed coal development in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. The song, which is a re-release of Lund’s “This is My Prairie” is a collaboration that includes artists like Brett Kissel, Terri Clark, Paul Brandt and a few others.  Lund says that he and his fellow musicians have released this song to express opposition and bring awareness to coal mining which he says is a threat to our water supply. 

Any proceeds from the song’s release will raise funds for landowner groups who are standing in opposition to coal development in the Alberta Rockies.

Aired on: Wednesday, October 20, 2021

For more info, please go to​ ​https://bridgecitynews.ca/ 

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Alberta musician Corb Lund comes out against proposed coal mines in Rocky Mountains

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — Corb Lund, perhaps Canada's pre-eminent singer about rural life and cowboy culture, is warning Albertans.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

"I've seen this coming for a while," he said from his home in Lethbridge, Alta., the day after posting a Facebook video lambasting the province's plans to open a vast stretch of its Rocky Mountains to open-pit coal mining. 

"I wrote this song about 15 years ago. It's called "This Is My Prairie."

In it, a rancher laments the industrialization and destruction of the landscape — exactly what Lund fears may happen to his beloved Alberta foothills as coal companies snap up thousands of hectares of previously unmined mountaintops and valleys.

"The scope of this thing — it's huge," Lund said in an interview. "I'm from the foothills and it threatens the hell out of our water. And the mountains. It's a big one."

Lund has released 11 albums documenting the life and culture of those who ride horses to work, labour outdoors, and know what it means when the truck gets stuck in spring gumbo. He regularly tours Canada and around the world and is just as popular with the boots-and-Wranglers set as he is with urban hipsters.

In his video, Lund talks about the province rescinding coal policy dating from 1976, which made those landscapes off-limits to that kind of development.

 

https://wus-streaming-video-msn-com.akamaized.net/2cccbbe7-c9a0-4e19-91b3-6aee93b0a395/06e30362-7d16-42c9-9ef2-1155df9c_2250.mp4

"There's a lot of bad things about it," he said on Facebook. "It's scary. I'm spooked."

Lund, a sixth-generation southern Albertan, points out the area contains the headwaters for freshwater on which millions depend. Coal mining can release selenium, a highly toxic element that is already poisoning watersheds downstream of coal mines in British Columbia.

Perhaps just as bad is the way the change was made, he said.

"I don't like how it was done, with seemingly no public consultation of potentially affected parties."

That's one of the reasons he made the video — to let people know what was happening.

"Not many people know about it. My friends that irrigate in southern Alberta didn't know about it, and I didn't know about it until December."

Lund said his concerns aren't political.

"I've talked to people in three different political parties about this, federal and provincial. I've talked to ranchers and farmers. I've talked to all sides here."

He's met with Alberta Environment Minister Jason Nixon and Energy Minister Sonya Savage.

"I asked them why this is a good idea. I wasn't satisfied with the answers,'' he said.

"They're basically asking us to trust them but I don't trust anyone on this stuff."

The Alberta government did not immediately comment.

Lund said coal mining is not a divisive issue in his circles. People oppose it.

"I haven't really run into too many people who think it's a good idea to rip up the mountains and poison the water."

"I understand (the government is) trying to help the economy, but this is short-term, silly thinking."

The eastern slopes, where the prairies vault into the spires of the Rocky Mountains, are too close to Alberta's sense of itself to mess with, he said.

"I've travelled a lot. Every time I get off the airplane in Calgary and start driving south, it's a magical feeling for me. It's a pretty damn special place and anyone who visits and hasn't seen it is like, 'Oh my God.'"

Alberta has a long history of taking shots from entertainment figures who disagree with its environmental policies. The list includes Jane Fonda, James Cameron, Neil Young and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Lund doesn't want to be added to that folder.

"I live here," he said. "My family's been here since the 1800s. It's different."

Lund isn't sure what his next step will be, or if there is a next step.

"I don't know," he said. "I've always stayed out of current events because I feel I have a different role to play.

"But this one's such a big deal I just can't stay out of it."

-- By Bob Weber in Edmonton

-- Follow @row1960 on Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2021.

The Canadian Press

Alberta decision to open Rockies to coal mining to face court challenges in new year

December 24, 2020·

NOTE THE DATE ONCE AGAIN OUR RIGHT WING UCP GOVT TRIES TO HIDE ITS ECO DESTRUCTION UNDER A BUSHEL, RELEASING INFO XMAS WEEK



EDMONTON — The Alberta government is to face at least two court challenges in the new year over its decision to rescind decades-old protections and open the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains to coal mining.

Landowners and the Ermineskin and Whitefish Lake First Nations have filed separate requests for a judicial review of the decision, which they argue was made without legally required consultations.

"It really focuses in on the lack of consultation our clients received," said Richard Harrison, lawyer for several ranchers whose grazing leases overlap with land now available for open-pit, steelmaking coal mines.

"That one act — on the Friday before the May long weekend — to rescind the coal policy really had a detrimental effect."

Harrison said the requests are to come up in court the week of Jan. 18. A judge is to hear an argument from Alberta to have the applications dismissed and who will get intervener status if they go ahead.

Documents filed suggest government lawyers will argue that policies are not the same as legislation and can be changed unilaterally.

Alberta Energy did not respond to a request for responses it has filed with the court.

The eastern slopes comprise some of Alberta's most ecologically valuable land — habitat for threatened species as well as the headwaters of rivers millions of Albertans rely on for water.

In May, the United Conservative government announced it would remove rules for coal development in the region that had been in place since 1976. They set zones allowing no development in the most sensitive land and progressively more activity in proportion to the environmental value of the land.

The classifications were applied in advance of any assessment by the Alberta Energy Regulator.

Under the new policy, only the top designation remains. Mine proposals on all other land now go directly to the regulator.

Although it imposes conditions on development, the Alberta Energy Regulator has never turned a proposal down.

Court documents show the applicants will argue that both Alberta legislation and common practice require the province to consult with anyone affected before making land-use decisions. They point to the Alberta Land Stewardship Act and various land-use plans that have been agreed to over the years.

"There's a common law right to consultation when a government decision is going to affect you," said Harrison.

Legislation stipulates that whenever a land-use plan is changed or amended, appropriate public consultation must be carried out. The change must also be tabled in the legislature.

The applicants argue that a series of coal mines constitute a change in land use.

The Livingstone Landowners Group, which has asked to intervene, says its 2,500 members have worked with the province for years on managing competing uses.

"The province has always led us to believe that land-use planning needs input from local people," said president Bill Trafford. "Then they go, 'That's not convenient anymore.' "

Harrison said an Alberta Energy document shows the government chose to move unilaterally despite warnings from officials.

In that document, entered into the court record, Alberta Energy officials warned minister Sonya Savage that dismissing the coal policy on her own carried risks.

"It will draw criticism from environmental groups and other user groups active within Alberta's eastern slopes, particularly if the decision is made without prior public consultation."

It also warned that land-use plans agreed to over the years would be dramatically affected by removing the protections, leaving what it called "policy gaps."

One proposed coal mine, the Grassy Mountain project near the headwaters of the Oldman River, is before a joint federal-provincial review panel. Several others are waiting.

Earlier this month, the province sold coal leases for about 2,000 hectares on the eastern slopes. Land leased for coal now stretches in an almost unbroken swath for nearly 60 kilometres in Alberta's southwest corner.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 24, 2020.

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

 Country star Corb Lund criticizes Alberta minister over coal application support

© Provided by The Canadian Press

TABER, Alta. — An Alberta country music star is criticizing the province's energy minister for advising its energy regulator to accept initial applications for a coal mine project in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in southern Alberta.

Corb Lund says that after meeting with Energy Minister Brian Jean, he doesn't believe the minister knows enough about the issue. 

"I met with Brian Jean to discuss the coal issue a couple of months ago. And I was alarmed by how little he knew," Lund said in an email to The Canadian Press. 

"I knew more about the coal issue than he did, and I'm just a guitar player, not the minister of energy. It's chilling to me that ill-informed politicians are making decisions about our water."

On Thursday, the Alberta Energy Regulator said the Grassy Mountain steelmaking coal proposal near Crowsnest Pass should be considered an advanced project and be exempt from a ministerial order banning coal development in the mountains.

The regulator reached the decision after receiving a letter from Jean in support of considering the applications. 

The regulator says it will hold public hearings on mine proponent Northback's request for exploration permits and a water licence.

In a statement on Saturday, Jean said there's a difference between applying for a drilling permit and a permit being approved, pointing out the application has not been approved.

The provincial energy regulator is independent, and its officials are "the correct people to make this technical decision," he added.

“I consult widely with lots of Albertans on lots of issues. I took the time to speak with Corb and I asked him many questions to get his perspective on this issue. It’s disappointing that he feels this way," Jean said.

Lund, a longtime vocal opponent of coal mining in the eastern slopes, says review panels and governments have already turned down the project and polling has shown the public doesn't support it.  

"How many times do Albertans have to say no to these foreign coal companies?" he wrote. 

"The joint review panel already firmly told them no, at both the provincial and federal levels — and their appeal was denied after that. Public polling has shown over and over that the vast majority of Albertans don't want these coal mines." 

He said southern Alberta can't support another significant water user. 

"We're dealing with crippling drought."

Jean countered that the proposal, if approved, would not use any water from any river or stream in the foothills, and would instead use water from the existing coal mine lake on the property.

"Alberta’s government is serious about protecting water. Rules on water use and water treatment will be a big part of the land-use planning which is being prepared for the foothills," he said.

While the community of Crowsnest Pass strongly supports the mine, environmental groups have said they're considering a court challenge of the decision to exempt the applications from a ministerial order banning coal development along the eastern slopes of the Rockies.

Lund lives in the southern Alberta community of Taber. 

He has released 11 albums and tours regularly in Canada, the United States and Australia. He has been nominated for five Juno Awards, winning once, and has received several nods for Group of the Year from the Canadian Country Music Association. 

Jean said advanced coal projects are allowed to make applications under the 2022 ministerial order. Four projects were told in 2022 that they qualified as advanced coal projects, he said.

— By Bob Weber in Edmonton

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press

Public opposition growing: Petitions against Alberta coal mines top 100K signature

Public opposition to the Alberta government's plan to expand coal mining in the Rocky Mountains appears to be growing

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

More than 100,000 signatures have been collected on two petitions opposing the move, one addressed to the federal government and one to the province.

A Facebook site called Protect Alberta's Rockies and Headwaters has more than doubled its membership over the last week to more than 10,000 people.

An environmental review into one coal project has received more than 4,000 statements of concern from members of the public.

Government documents that have surfaced show three more recreation areas in the mountains and foothills are surrounded by coal exploration leases — for a total of eight.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2021.

Corb Lund Calls Out Alberta's "Alarming" Coal Mining Proposal

https://exclaim.ca/music/article/corb_lund_calls_out_albertas_alarming...

2021-01-13 · Corb Lund Calls Out Alberta's "Alarming" Coal Mining Proposal The UCP revoked a 1976 policy to keep open pit mines out of the Rocky Mountains, and Lund is "kind of pissed

Crunch Time for Re-Instating the Coal Policy?

JANUARY 17, 2021

Action Alerts
Coal

This weekend might be an especially crucial time to email your MLA, Premier Jason Kenney, Energy Minister Sonya Savage, and Environment and Parks Nixon about Re-Instating the 1976 Coal Policy.

AWA believes the Kenney government has felt the pressure. In this Global News story, Energy Minister Sonya Savage’s office declined to comment but went on to say “we hope to be sharing something soon.” We hope this is a signal that the Kenney government is seriously considering backtracking on the spring decision to revoke the policy. Pressure this weekend might push her and the government to do the right thing: admit that revoking the policy was a major mistake and correct it.

On Tuesday the Coal Policy goes to court. At issue is the government’s failure to consult with anyone, other than the coal industry, before revoking the Coal Policy. AWA, represented by Clint Docken, Q.C. of Guardian Law, has applied to intervene in the case.

Revoking the policy has opened to the door to open-pit strip-mining in lands where open-pit mining had effectively been prohibited (the Coal Policy designated these lands as Category 2 Lands). In addition to their beauty, these landscapes constitute vital habitat for threatened species such as grizzly bears (The first of two maps accompanying this call to action?? shows what a significant swath of the Rockies/Foothills were Category 2 Lands and how important these lands are for grizzlies.)

In this Calgary Herald article Minister Nixon says the province won’t allow a “free for all” and that he doesn’t think his government “would tolerate the fact that there would be dozens of mines across the eastern slopes.” Surely he knows that, by rescinding the Coal Policy, his government made it possible for all of the projects associated with the leases shown on the second map below to apply for approval. TEN projects are linked with those leases. How many mines will it take to destroy the remnants of westslope cutthroat critical habitat in the Eastern Slopes? How many mines will it take to destroy the tourism and recreation appeal of our southern Rockies and foothills? One? Two? Certainly far fewer than the dozens the Minister seems unable to tolerate.

As AWA argued when the Lougheed government was drafting the Coal Policy, and every day since, that policy struck a valuable balance between coal mining and protecting landscapes that are at the heart of Alberta’s identity. Please take a few minutes this weekend and tell that to our elected officials.

– Ian Urquhart

Conservation Director

Headwaters - Alberta Wilderness Association

The photo on our news items page is © C. Wershler. Cleve’s photo is an overview of the 1989 Oldman River Concert where 8,000 people came to celebrate a free-flowing Oldman River with Ian Tyson, Sylvia Tyson, Gordon Lightfoot, Murray McLauchlan, Andy Russell, David Suzuki and others.

The Honourable Jason Kenney,
Premier,

premier@gov.ab.ca

The Honourable Sonya Savage,

Minister of Energy,

minister.energy@gov.ab.ca

The Honourable Jason Nixon,

Minister of Environment and Parks,

Aep.mininster@gov.ab.ca

You can find out how to contact your own MLA here.

Corb Lund Calls Out Alberta's "Alarming" Coal Mining Proposal

https://exclaim.ca/music/article/corb_lund_calls_out_albertas_alarming...

2021-01-13 · Corb Lund Calls Out Alberta's "Alarming" Coal Mining Proposal The UCP revoked a 1976 policy to keep open pit mines out of the Rocky Mountains, and Lund is "kind of pissed

How his plan to open the Canadian Rockies to coal mining set Alberta’s Jason Kenney against country music stars

By Alex BoydCalgary Bureau
Sun., Aug. 15, 2021


Corb Lund is not enjoying this interview.

The lanky Juno-winning musician, known for his playful lyrical takes on rural life on the Prairies, is calling while on his way home to southern Alberta after a stint in studio in Edmonton working on some new music. But he hasn’t phoned to talk about his latest project, or even the one before it, an album released to critical acclaim in the middle of a pandemic.

Instead, he’s stolen time from his primary gig to talk about a side project that has recently rebranded him as an emerging, albeit reluctant, advocate: stopping a controversial plan to open up the Rocky Mountains to coal mining.

“I would rather be playing music, frankly,” says Lund, sounding exasperated.

“I blame the government. I don’t even blame the coal companies, because coal companies are going to coal-company, right? That’s what they do. It’s the government allowing them to do it.”




Last spring, the Alberta government set off a firestorm with the quiet removal of a 44-year-old policy preventing most open pit coal mining in the iconic mountain range. At a time when pandemic polarization seems to have split Albertans into warring camps on just about everything, coal mining might be one of the few areas of common ground.

In short, most people are mad.


The provincial government maintains that a new plan is required because the old coal policy was “largely made obsolete through more modern oversight,” Jennifer Henshaw, press secretary to Energy Minister Sonya Savage, said in an email. The old one doesn’t even mention climate change, she points out.

The mines would also bring in revenue at a time when the province is struggling to recover from the double whammy of the pandemic and plummeting oil revenue — in 2017, the Alberta government collected $15.7 million from coal production on publicly owned land.

But the anger is such that the current government, which flaunts big trucks and cowboy hats with an enthusiasm that’s notable, even for Albertan politicians — Premier Jason Kenney is preparing for a tour of the province in his signature blue pickup truck — is facing pushback from what might seem like an unexpected source: country music stars.

Alberta’s conservative history can tempt outsiders to paint the whole province with the same political brush, an impression reinforced by the current government, which has embraced the rural parts of the province as its base.

But its coal plans have united environmentalists, many conservatives and several First Nations as well as big country names, exposing the many shades of grey in terms of how Albertans think of political allegiance, resource development and even the future of their province.

“I know that some of the current politicians tried to frame this as a bunch of urban busybodies but honestly, I know more rural people against it,” Lund says.

“It’s a very wide coalition of people.”

A rising chorus

Over the past six months, a movement of sorts has coalesced around Lund, who, in addition to speaking out in interviews and online, has hosted a horse ride and a protest concert in the sprawling ranch country located in the mountain foothills south of Banff National Park. He’s even publicly mused about attempting a referendum under new government legislation that allows private citizens to put issues to the ballot.

One by one, other members of Canadian country royalty have joined the chorus.

Paul Brandt, whose hit songs include “Alberta Bound,” once used as a soundtrack for Ford commercials, tweeted that “Corb Lund is right,” alongside photos of him fishing in a gleaming stream. Terri Clark tweeted that the Canadian Rockies are “part of my soul” and linked to Lund’s Facebook page.

In a video posted online, Terry Grant, otherwise known as “Mantracker,” from the show of the same name in which he used tracking skills and a horse to hunt down contestants, came out strongly against the mine. “I grew up down there, chasing cows and cowboying, guiding and hunting. It’s amazing country.”

Of course, there will always be critics who argue that entertainers should stay out of politics.

Corb Lund is usually one of those critics.

“I don’t normally speak about stuff like this,” he says. “A lot of times when people in positions of notoriety or celebrity or whatever speak out about stuff, they don’t really know what they’re talking about. They’re kind of stupid, and I didn’t want to be that guy.”

To that end, in the past few months, he’s taken on a crash course in coal, speaking to politicians, coal lobbies, scientists and conservationists.

The Rockies are iconic to Albertans, and the opposition is built on concerns that mines will open up vast pits to extract the coal beneath, and at the same time pollute the water, harm wildlife and knit access roads and rail lines across land that is in many ways undisturbed.

Before a long weekend in May

The furor began over a year ago, with an email sent to media on the Friday afternoon before the May long weekend. In it, the government announced it was replacing the “outdated” 44-year-old coal policy that had prohibited much mining in the Rockies.

Instead, the government was bringing in what it called “modern regulatory processes, integrated planning and land use policies.” While the government said sensitive land in the eastern slopes, for example, would continue to be protected, coal companies would be able to apply to develop new projects.

“Government is placing a strong focus on creating the necessary conditions for the growth of export coal production,” the release read.

The reaction was swift.

The Alberta Wilderness Association pointed out the move had the potential to open up more than 4.7 million hectares of environmentally sensitive lands to coal exploration. A group of ranchers whose grazing leases were suddenly eligible for mining, and the Ermineskin and Whitefish Lake First Nations moved ahead with legal action, arguing the changes had been made without required consultation.

In January, the government said it had “listened carefully” and announced it was cancelling 11 coal leases and would pause any future lease sales. The old policy was eventually reinstated while a five-member panel was tasked with consulting with Albertans about a new way forward. Suggesting how widely the issue resonated, a preliminary survey done by the panel found the majority of Albertans felt the development of coal affected them.

Meanwhile, the federal government has waded into the fray, armed with the argument that issues of climate change and pollution are national matters.

Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced in June that Ottawa would conduct an environmental review of any new coal project that could potentially release selenium, a mineral found in Alberta’s coal beds that is toxic to fish.

Last week, Ottawa rejected the Grassy Mountain proposal, one of the most high-profile projects, after a joint review panel concluded it would have major environmental effects.

But the real litmus test will come this fall, when the Alberta government goes back to the drawing board on a new coal policy.

Alberta premiers — then and now



Most of the coal currently being eyed by commercial interests in Alberta lies within a 20-kilometre-wide band of rolling foothills that runs along the eastern edge of the Rockies south of Banff National Park.

Falling roughly between a winding secondary highway known as the Cowboy Trail — a nod to decades of local ranching history — and the Rockies proper, the eastern slopes are considered one of the last patches of the true Prairie ecosystem that once blanketed much of the continent.

It’s important habitat for grizzly bears and threatened species such as westslope cutthroat trout; and the water that flows through here feeds much of the southern half of the province — including the city of Calgary.

Coal mining is not unheard of in this part of the world. To the south, the Crowsnest Pass, one of the few passable routes between Alberta and British Columbia, is still shot through with old mine shafts. But the use of coal for energy waned in the 1960s and then, in 1976, Alberta brought in a coal policy that put management of water first and restricted much new coal development.

At the time, David Luff was a brand new government employee who had been hired the year before to help implement the coal policy and develop a plan for the eastern slopes.

The premier of the day, Peter Lougheed, still casts a long shadow in Alberta politics. Luff says he believes Lougheed, through the coal policy, was implementing a long-term vision of stability and prosperity for the province that Luff argues was ahead of its time.

“In 1976, people didn’t talk about climate change, they weren’t worried about drought. They weren’t worried about the forest fires that we now see on a yearly basis,” he says. “None of that was really on anyone’s radar.”

The policy protected much of the land and encouraged coal companies, which had to get special permission for most open-pit mines in Alberta, to move to B.C., where mines have released so much selenium it’s now ending up in Montana.

Since the removal of the Lougheed-era policy, Luff says companies have already begun to explore future mine sites, building roads and sinking core holes into the rock to probe for coal.

“With the rescinding of the policy, the government was stating water is no longer important. Water is not the highest priority; coal development is the highest priority. And Albertans found that to be fundamentally wrong,” Luff says.

A different kind of coal

Coal is one of the emerging villains of the fight against climate change, and Canada has committed to phasing out coal-fired electricity by 2030. Alberta is currently on track to accomplish that even earlier and hopes to transition off by 2023, officials say.

But a complicating factor here is there are different types of coal. Much of what the Alberta government is looking to produce is what’s called metallurgical coal. With more carbon and less ash and moisture than regular coal, also known as thermal coal, metallurgical coal is used to make steel and even Canada says it can’t be phased out just yet.

According to the provincial website, Alberta still produces about 25 million to 30 million tonnes of coal every year from its remaining nine mines — two of which produce metallurgical coal, and the remaining seven of which are devoted to thermal, much of which is sold to other countries.

But the federal environment minister says that while the first priority is eliminating thermal coal, eventually the same thing will happen to metallurgical.

“There are a number of different processes and technologies that people are looking to deploy that will help us to reduce those emissions and move us away from metallurgical coal,” Wilkinson said, pointing to a couple of Canadian companies that are trying out electric furnaces to make steel.

Luff, for his part, is not anti-industry. He would go on to become an assistant deputy minister in the energy department, then become a vice-president for the Canadian Association for Petroleum Producers before creating his own consultancy company, but he worries that government is putting profit ahead of the long-term interests of Albertans.

He worries Alberta’s politicians aren’t playing the long game here, which he argues shows industry switching away from coal, even for steel production. The potential risk to the province’s drinking water and an iconic part of the province won’t be done away with so easily.

“Maybe it’s just a lack of understanding that, yes, Alberta is a province that benefits from the development of its resources, whether it’s oil and gas, or timber development and so on. But Albertans also recreate, and spend a great deal of time in the mountains, in northern Alberta in the boreal forest — hiking, canoeing, fishing, hunting — and many Canadians, I don’t think, are aware of that,” he says.

“Albertans do look to find a balance between the development of resources, but also ensuring that the environment and social values will be maintained in perpetuity.”

‘I don’t know what he’s thinking’

Two and a half years into its maiden term — a significant chunk of which involved navigating a global pandemic — Jason Kenney’s United Conservative government is no stranger to controversy.

There was the time at least seven MLAs and senior government officials were caught travelling for the holidays despite official advice, or the time Kenney himself was photographed having drinks on the balcony of the so-called Sky Palace — a government office that a former premier tried to turn into a luxury apartment that is now Albertan shorthand for government arrogance — with a group of ministers, including the health minister, while flouting pandemic rules.

There is growing evidence Albertans are getting fed up. While many leaders have enjoyed pandemic bumps to their approval ratings, Kenney has the lowest level of support of a premier in the country.

According to an Angus Reid poll from June, his approval was sitting around 31 per cent, or about half of where it was when he swept to victory two years ago.

But while much of the pushback against Kenney’s government has tended to splinter along political lines — his rule-resistant COVID-19 response seemed designed to appease a rural base, experts say — the fury of coal stands out for its cross-partisan appeal.

When he was running to be leader of the newly minted United Conservative party four years ago, Kenney stood in front of a green and white sign emblazoned with his signature and what he called the Grassroots Guarantee — a promise that policy would be developed by membership and not by leadership alone.


It was an attempt to throw off the shackles of conservative arrogance in the province, and yet it’s been a challenging promise to deliver on, says Lori Williams, a political scientist at Calgary’s Mount Royal University.

A small poll in February found that almost seven in 10 Albertans surveyed were against development of formerly protected areas and half strongly opposed getting rid of the coal policy specifically and yet the government has plunged ahead with changes. Some government MLAs have spoken of an inability to get Kenney’s ear.

“The inability to respond to the concerns that are being raised by his base is a bit surprising,” Williams says.

Kenney came to power by combining the province’s two Conservative parties, and as his popularity drops, it’s a partnership that risks unravelling. He’s struggled to keep the right wing of the party intact, which some have speculated explains why he’s pushed ahead with the development often favoured by the right.

“I don’t know what he’s thinking,” Williams says. “I often wonder if he knows the Alberta that he is now governing; it’s not the Alberta that he left in the 1990s. But sometimes he governs as if it is that Alberta.”

‘This is just about me not wanting the Rockies ruined’

Lund, who says he agrees with some ideas on the right and some on the left, says this isn’t about politics.

“I don’t like any political parties. I don’t like groups of people in general. I don’t trust them. I only trust individuals. So this is just about me not wanting the Rockies ruined for everyone,” he says. “And turns out that’s resonated across political lines.”

Fellow musician Brett Kissel was raised on a ranch north of Edmonton but grew up on country music stages — he recorded his first album at age 12 and has since had four singles hit No. 1 on Canadian country music charts. After watching one of Lund’s videos about coal this spring, he immediately called him to ask how he could help, he says.

He agrees this is not about politics. He’s made public appearances with Kenney and says there are a number of things the current government has done well since the pandemic began.



Personal relationships aside, he says, he’s decided to speak out because of what he considers a “bad deal” for Alberta. As he sees it, the government has backed itself into a corner — if it backs down now, it will invite environmentalists to fight back on other causes. But he argues that the time has come for the province to heed the voices of the province.

Speaking a few hours before stepping onto the stage in Quebec for one of his first post-pandemic appearances this month, he said it’s a comment on Alberta politics when even the “true blue Albertans” are starting to push back.

“We’re pro oil. We’re pro industry. We’re pro money. We’re pro generational wealth. So even us, we’re the ones who are like, ‘Yeah, no, this is too far,’” Kissel says.

He says he feels for the people who work in coal who were looking forward to new opportunities — only to have those new mines threated by the pushback. The musicians who have spoken out have all received significant heat for that reason, he says.

Still, he calls the mine proposals a “bad deal” for the province, with the promise of a few hundred local jobs and “miniscule” royalties.

“It’s very difficult when we are talking about other people’s livelihoods,” he says. “But you know what, the pros for this situation do not outweigh the cons that are going to be for the rest of the province.”

Right now, the government is awaiting the coal policy committee’s report, which is due by Nov. 15. Although “we cannot speculate on the content or details of a modernized provincial coal policy,” the report will “inform” the new plan, the Alberta energy minister’s press secretary said in an email.

A clearer timeline for a new policy is expected this fall.

Lund and others will be watching.

“I feel like the wind is in our sails, but I think we need to keep pushing until we have a new policy in place that clearly sorts this out so that we don’t have to deal with it again, five years from now,” he says.

“In this divided time, it’s been refreshing to see that we can all agree on clean water at least, right?”

Alex Boyd is a Calgary-based reporter for the Star.

ALBERTA

Piikani First Nation protests idea of coal mining

Anti-coal mining rally faces unexpected roadblock

Sean Marks CTV News Lethbridge Video Journalist

Published Saturday, June 12, 2021 8:30PM MDT

Members of an Alberta First Nation gathered to urge the government to scrap the idea of coal mining in the eastern slopes of the Rockies.

CALGARY -- Following months of preparation, members of the Piikani 'Mountain Child Valley Society' (MVCS) were shocked to find out that there were new restrictions placed on their anti-coal mining rally at the last minute.

The rally, which began with a protest convoy from Crowsnest Lake to Brocket, was organized to bring awareness to mining in the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.

Sixty cars, decorated with protest signs, left the Crowsnest Pass at 10 a.m. to spread their concern across Southern Alberta.

They were heading to the rally, which was set to begin at 11:30 a.m. in the river valley on Piikani Nation land.

However, rally organizer and chair of the MVCS, Adam North Peigan, was informed that only band members would be allowed to attend the rally.

"Our chief and council have imposed a media ban as well as a ban on any non-nation members being able to attend the rally," said North Peigan.

"It's unfortunate that chief and council have done that and it's really, really a sore spot in our leadership."

North Peigan had arranged for multiple non-nation members to speak at the rally including MLA's from Lethbridge and Edmonton, as well as anti-coal activist and country music star, Corb Lund.

After having to change the location prior to the event, North Peigan says he believes this was done because of the chief and council's support of the Grassy Mountain mine.

"I call out on Chief Stan Grier and members of council to get behind the members of Piikani Nation," he said.

"We are the true rights holder to this ancestral land that's looking to being desecrated by coal exploration in our ancestral land."

Piikani Nation elders were also present to speak towards their feelings on what is happening in the eastern slopes.

"I'm sad, the elders are sad," said Wilfred Yellow Wings Sr.

"The people that are gathering to support no mines are all here."

We spoke with Piikani Nation who said the decision to make the rally a band-only event was due to a concern for the health and safety of its members.

In a statement they said:

"The Piikani Nation has worked for over five years to be confident that the Grassy Mountain mine will pose a minimal risk to its lands, waters, culture and traditional way of life. Through agreement with the project proponent, it has created strict legal obligations for the mine to protect the environment and its sacred sites.

The Piikani Nation has not provided its consent to any other coal mine.

With respect to the protest planned on Piikani reserve lands, the Nation is only preventing off reserve members from entering the community to protect its members from the pandemic.

Any suggestion that the Piikani Nation is stopping members from voicing their opinions on Piikani decisions is categorically false.

The simple fact is that the Piikani Nation can't risk a COVID outbreak in its community. It has made considerable sacrifice and allocated significant resources over the last year to prevent outbreaks in the community and the devastation that the virus inflicted in other communities and the world."

Those who were not able to attend the event still took the time to express their concerns about mining exploration and what it means for the lands and water sources in Southern Alberta.

PROTESTERS LINE THE HIGHWAY OUTSIDE PIIKANI NATION

"Everyone is worried about access to water and giving away billions of liters of water to coal mining companies that are going to use it and potentially really abuse it for 10 to 12 years and a couple hundred jobs is just not worth it for the jobs we are putting at risk now," said Shannon Phillips, MLA for Lethbridge-West.

"We should be able to make a living off the landscape, trust the water that we drink and protect the wildlife, the traditional land uses and the communities that rely on this watershed."

MLA for Edmonton-Gold Bar and NDP Environmental Critic Marlin Schmidt was also in attendance.

"We know that here in southern Alberta, we don't have enough water and that we need to keep the water that we do have clean, and the coal mines threaten both of those things."

Anti-coal activist, country music star and Lethbridge resident Corb Lund showed up as well express his opposition.

"I've looked into the coal issue a lot in the rockies here in Alberta, and I just think it's a terrible idea for lots of reasons," he said.

"For financial reasons and for safety reasons and for ecological reasons. It's a terrible idea."

The rally was still able to be seen and heard from the highway, with many Piikani band members in attendance to listen to the words of North Peigan on the shores of the Old Man River.

"We need to do what we need to do to protect mother earth now and for future generations."

Lund will be hosting another anti-coal event for media on June 16 at the foot of Cabin Ridge in the Mount Livingston Range to give people a close-up view of a proposed coal development zone and speak to the effect it will have on the families who live and work in the area.

Alberta’s Rockies and foothills under threat of

open pit coal mining

PROJECT UPDATES JULY 29, 2020

Maybe you’ve heard that Alberta is turning to open pit coal mining in the Rocky Mountains. That’s true.

We have some other facts for you about this shocking reversal to a long-standing policy and why it’s a problem for Alberta’s people, waters and wildlife.
What’s the deal with Alberta’s Coal Policy?

For many years, parts of the Foothills and Rocky Mountains were protected from mining in a Coal Development Policy for Alberta, created by premier Peter Lougheed.

That changed on June 1, 2020, when the Government of Alberta rescinded the 1976 Coal Policy.

The Coal Policy aimed to balance environmental protections and economic opportunity and included establishing four coal category regions for the Rocky Mountains and foothills. Coal categories 1, 2, 3, and 4 outlined relative levels of permissiveness for coal exploration and mining, with 1 being the most restrictive and 4 being the most open.

More than 53,000 square kilometres of Alberta’s Eastern Slopes are affected by the rescission of the Coal Policy.

These lands, waters and wildlife — and the millions of people who rely on them — deserve a better future than a resource policy that blasts us 45 years into the past.
Paving paradise to put up a coal pit

Removing the Coal Policy makes it significantly easier to build networks of access roads, undertake exploratory drilling, and operate large-scale open-pit coal mines in the headwaters, relatively intact forests, and popular recreation regions of the Eastern Slopes.

It means sacrificing the security of some of our most important ecological and cultural sites (including 60 provincial parks and recreation areas planned for delisting) on a bet against history — a bet that the next three decades or more will be prosperous for a precarious and notoriously volatile resource that is one of the world’s most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and the climate crisis. T

he Grassy Mountain mine is being proposed near here and Crowsnest Pass. 

Photo: CPAWS Southern Alberta

Is Alberta seriously getting new coal mines in 2020?

The risk of open-pit coal mining is neither small nor hypothetical.

While coal for fuel is not as popular as it once was, there is still strong demand for coal used in making steel, or metallurgical coal. But make no mistake: mining both types of coal harms the environment.

There are already a significant number of projects in the proposal phase, including Grassy Mountain, Elan South, Isolation South, Cabin Ridge, Tent Mountain Mine, Chinook, Aries Coal, and the Vista Mine.

Some of these projects are in the final approval stages. Others are currently under exploration, a process that can include building an extensive network of access roads and undertaking intensive drilling before a mine has even been approved. These activities fragment the landscape, cut down endangered five-needle pines, change predator-prey dynamics, and make the land more vulnerable to invasive species and erosion.

The Coal Policy rescission was quietly announced before the May long weekend, and implemented two weeks later.

Zero notice.

Zero consultation.

Well, almost. There is one record of consultation: lobbying from the Coal Association of Canada.

The Government of Alberta has stated that the Coal Policy is no longer needed as it was created before regional planning was finished. The big problem? Regional planning has barely begun.

Only two of the province’s seven regional plans have been finalized, and even one of those, the South Saskatchewan Regional Plan, has yet to complete the sub-regional planning necessary to make the Coal Policy redundant.

Albertans are left with a gaping regulatory hole regarding one of our riskiest industrial activities in perhaps our most important ecological region: the Eastern Slopes headwaters that provide 90% of Alberta’s water for drinking and irrigation.
What does “easing restrictions” mean?

Coal Category 1 allowed no exploration or commercial extraction of coal. Category 2 permitted controlled exploration but nearly barred open-pit mining. Category 3 permitted surface mining so long as a project was found to be in the public interest and environmental mitigation and rehabilitation plans were in place. Category 4 was where coal activity was intended to be concentrated with the lowest environmental risk. Former Coal Categories 2, 3, and 4 are now open to widespread exploration and open-pit surface mining.

When they announced the Coal Policy rescission, the Province stated that Category 1 protections will remain intact, however the policy mechanism for that protection remains unclear. After all, those protections were a product of the now-defunct Coal Policy.

Photo: Shutterstock

What about our wildlife and species at risk? 

Large portions of the former coal category lands overlap with core and secondary grizzly bear habitat, as described in Alberta’s draft grizzly bear recovery plan. That same plan identifies habitat security and connectivity as key strategies for recovery, both of which are threatened by coal projects of this scale. 

Roads are bad for grizzly bears, and there are multiple recent scientific studies backing this up, for example a January 2020 paper by Proctor, et. al.: Effects of roads and motorized human access on grizzly bear populations in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.

When coal projects or large development goes into an area, that means the density and number of roads goes up, affecting the bears who need intact wilderness to thrive. 

There is just one watershed in the Livingstone-Porcupine Hills out of 24 where road density is not already an issue. This region is where much of the coal mining activity is proposed, and where mining exploration roads are already being built. 

Vulnerable native trout species are also at considerable risk. Coal mine pollution in B.C.’s Elk Valley, immediately west of Crowsnest Pass, has led to selenium levels greater than 100 parts per billion (ppb), compared to 1 ppb upstream of the mines. For comparison, B.C.’s maximum for safe drinking water is 10 ppb. 

This level of selenium is a potential health concern for people, and has a very real potential to cause a catastrophic collapse of native trout populations in Alberta’s waterways through reproductive failure and deformity. Selenium pollution from Elk Valley coal mines has created an ongoing international dispute and been linked to the near-disappearance of westslope cutthroat trout from 60 kilometres of the Fording River.

Alberta is defined by mountains 

On top of that, this is a weak attempt at diversifying industry and bringing back the prosperity Alberta once had. People don’t travel across the world to see coal mines, or the remains of what used to be mountains. These are trying times, and opening our most fantastic landscapes and wilderness to mining is a desperate move from a short-sighted government. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY 

Let government know how you feel about this change in policy. 

Write to your MLA, the provincial Minister of Environment and Parks (AEP.Minister@gov.ab.ca), Minister of Energy (minister.energy@gov.ab.ca), and the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change (ec.ministre-minister.ec@canada.ca).

It may also help to know Y2Y is urging the provincial government to: 

1. Reinstate the 1976 Coal Policy until regional planning, including all sub-regional planning, is complete. 

2. Engage Albertans in a thorough and meaningful public engagement process on the future of the Coal Policy. 

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Additional information and reading 

STATEMENT ON OPEN PIT COAL MINING

Read Y2Y’s statement on changes to Alberta’s 1976 Coal Policy.

BRINGING COAL BACK

An interactive long form story by CBC News about coal mining in Alberta. Published July 7, 2020

DO WE REALLY NEED COAL TO MAKE STEEL?

A look into mining metallurgical coal by Wildsight. Published June 1, 2020

Header photo of a coal mine access road courtesy CPAWS Southern Alberta

Corb Lund Calls Out Alberta's "Alarming" Coal Mining Proposal

https://exclaim.ca/music/article/corb_lund_calls_out_albertas_alarming...

2021-01-13 · Corb Lund Calls Out Alberta's "Alarming" Coal Mining Proposal The UCP revoked a 1976 policy to keep open pit mines out of the Rocky Mountains, and Lund is "kind of pissed