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New Citizen Initiative Application Approved, Notice of Initiative Petition Issued

January 27, 2026

EDMONTON – Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer, Gordon McClure, has received a citizen initiative proposal application and has determined it meets the requirements of section 2 of the Citizen Initiative Act. Today, the Notice of Initiative Petition was issued and published on Elections Alberta’s website, as required by s.3(2) of the Act. As required by s.2.2(2)(b), a copy of the application has been provided to the Minister of Justice.

Approved Initiative Petition Information
The approved citizen initiative application is for a legislative proposal as follows:

Subject matter of intended application: No New Coal Mining in the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains

Proposal: The Government of Alberta shall prohibit through legislation all coal exploration and mining activities within the Eastern Slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, other than mines that are in actual production as of January 1, 2026. For clarity, this prohibition includes Northback Holdings’ Grassy Mountain Project and Valory Resources’ Blackstone Project as well as any projects to expand any producing mines.

Proponent: Corby Lund

The Notice of Initiative Petition, application, contact information, and constitutional question are available on Elections Alberta’s website on the Current Initiatives Petition page.

Next steps

  1. The Chief Electoral Officer will determine if the requirements for the appointment of a chief financial officer have been met (s.1.2) during the notice of initiative petition publication period.
  2. Once the notice publication period is complete, Elections Alberta will:
    1. issue the citizen initiative petition,
    2. publish a notice on the Current Initiative Petitions page of our website indicating the petition has been issued, specifying the signature collection period dates, and the number of signatures required for a successful petition, and
    3. issue the official citizen initiative petition signature sheets in the format that must be used.

Signatures collected on or in any other forms will not be accepted. Canvassing may not begin before the citizen initiative petition is issued.

More information on the process, including responsibilities of the proponent and Elections Alberta, the status of the citizen initiative petition, financing rules for proponents, third party advertising rules, and frequently asked questions may be found on the Elections Alberta website.

 

Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, and referenda.

 

For media inquiries, please contact:
Robyn Bell
Media Relations
Phone: 403-589-7233
Email: [email protected]

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