'not just an urban issue': corb lund makes stop in calgary promoting water not coal petition
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on a windy sunday at the confluence in calgary, corb lund strummed a familiar tune on his guitar in front of dozens of people.
fans of the canadian country music star would have instantly recognized the opening notes of this is my prairie, a track off his 2009 album — losin’ lately gambler.
at the time that he wrote it, lund couldn’t have known the song would become a well-known anti-coal mining anthem representing the environmental fight to protect the rocky mountains.
to the side of the stage, a group of ranchers sat quietly on their horses. they, along with lund, were two days into a three-day horseback ride from longview in southern alberta to edmonton, aiming to raise awareness about the dangers of coal mining near the headwaters of the province’s rivers — and to collect at least 177,000 signatures for the water not coal petition to present to lawmakers by june 10.
if the group gets enough signatures, the province has promised to add a question to the fall referendum about a ban on coal mining in the region.
“it’s not just an urban issue,” he told reporters sunday. “i don’t care about political parties, i don’t like any of them. it wasn’t left-leaning environmental people that brought me into the fight. it was the ranching families west of nanton who were going to have their places messed up by strip mining and their rivers ruined.”
it’s the first political issue lund says he has ever spoken about publicly.
“that should tell you how important it is to me.”
musician corb lund talks with media before a rally for the water not coal petition at the confluence in calgary on sunday, may 17, 2026. the petition is in the final few weeks of gathering signatures to stop new coal mining in alberta.
gavin young/postmedia
water not coal campaign ongoing since 2020
lund became associated with the water not coal campaign in early 2026. but the campaign, according to its founder laura laing, has been going on for six years, since she and a group of ranchers filed a judicial review against the ucp government in 2020 to understand why a decades-old policy to block open-pit coal development had been rescinded.
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“it came about when we had foreign coal companies call us almost six years to the date,” she said. “and the announcement on the friday of a long weekend that they were going to rescind the coal policy — and that meant them opening up for coal development our range lands and pasture lands of our ranch.”
the campaign is focused on prohibiting new coal mining in the eastern slopes of alberta’s rockies, and specifically targets the grassy mountain project, proposed by northback holding co., a canadian subsidiary of australian mining giant hancock prospecting pty ltd. the proposed site is in the crowsnest pass region in southern alberta.
the province’s energy regulator denied the mine’s application in 2021, following a federal-provincial review that found the environmental hazards of the project outweighed the economic benefits.
ranchers laura laing and john smith of the plateau cattle co. were among several ranchers, including musician corb lund, who took part in a rally for the water not coal petition at the confluence in calgary on sunday, may 17, 2026. the petition is in the final few weeks of gathering signatures to stop new coal mining in alberta.
gavin young/postmedia
“we’ve been in a seven- or eight-year drought,” lund said of the southern alberta region where he lives. “so it’s not only an issue of water contamination but it’s also a quantity issue.”
water used to wash the coal will “come out” of the ranchers’ drinking and agricultural water, he said.
lund believes ‘the last three weeks will make or break the campaign’
on saturday, more than 30 ranchers joined the group in the horseback ride through longview. many had to end their ride by sunday to get back to work on the ranches.
“they’re like me, they’ve got better things to do,” lund said. “i would very much rather be playing music and these folks would much rather be raising cattle.”
the campaign is entirely volunteer-driven, subsisting on donations and out-of-pocket contributions from the campaigners.
“we’re not making a penny. in fact, it cost me a lot of money,” he said.
it’s also difficult to tell how many signatures the campaign has collected, as volunteers have yet to submit their sheets for collection.
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“i suspect the last three weeks will make or break the campaign,” he said, owing to the warmer weather that could draw people out to events to sign the petition.
musician corb lund was among a group of ranchers who took part in a rally for the water not coal petition at the confluence in calgary on sunday, may 17, 2026. the petition is in the final few weeks of gathering signatures to stop new coal mining in alberta.
gavin young/postmedia
even so, he’s skeptical as to whether the petition will be taken seriously by the provincial government if they get enough signatures.
“i haven’t been confident in the government in any of this for six years. so all we can do is follow the rules, which we’ve been doing, and do our best to jump through the hoops they put in front of us,” he said.
and if they don’t get the required number of signatures by the deadline?
“keep fighting,” he said. “i’m not going anywhere on this. neither are these folks, and we’re sticking around to the bitter end until we get serious legislation on this to stop coal mining up there for good.”
by 1 p.m. sunday, a modest crowd had gathered by the stage near the river where local country musicians sang popular covers. after talking to reporters, lund climbed back up onto his horse and, after posing for photos, he and the other ranchers on their steeds ambled around the park to the green patch by the stage.
when asked how the horseback ride has gone so far, “cold,” he said with a chuckle,
“but i’ve done worse.”
ranchers gather for a rally for the water not coal petition at the confluence in calgary on sunday, may 17, 2026. the petition is in the final few weeks of gathering signatures to stop new coal mining in alberta.
gavin young/postmedia
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