Alberta landowners and First Nations who want to keep the Rocky Mountains pristine are gearing up for a fight before a judge in Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary this week.
Hearings challenging the government’s move last spring begin on Tuesday.
The province’s United Conservative Party quietly removed a policy surrounding open pit coal mining and exploration on June 1st.
It was put in place by Peter Lougheed’s Progressive Conservative government in 1976.
The Canadian Parks and Wildnerness Society, Southern Alberta Chapter says the move opens up 1.5 million hectares of formerly protected lands along the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains and 600,000 hectares of headwaters for potential development of open pit coal mining.
A gofundme has been initiated to help grassroots organizers defray the costs of litigation against the Alberta Government.
Additionally, a petition to stop Open Pit Mining in the Rockies has garnered nearly 75,000 signatures.
Many Alberta-born musicians have also spoken out against the move, including Jann Arden, K.D. Lang, Paul Brandt, and Brett Kissel.
Folks, recently there have been some alarming and significant changes to Alberta’s provincial Coal Policy, which open up the eastern slopes of our Rocky Mountains to potential open pit coal mining. For more info please read my post: https://t.co/YDvx9iava7 https://t.co/8bBhO0XLYz
— corblund (@CorbLund) January 12, 2021
Coal mining- such forward thinking by a bunch of old white guys. When will we ever learn? What a terrible proposition for this province- for this country- for this planet. #saveourmountains https://t.co/ITIlrpJFxA
— Jann “stop live horse export” Arden (@jannarden) January 18, 2021
There is no doubt in my mind.
Opening the Rockies to coal mining is an irreparable and short sighted mistake. #SaveOurMountains #abcoal #AbLeg— k.d. lang (@kdlang) January 17, 2021
.@CorbLund is right. #SaveOurMountains.
👇🏼https://t.co/IIx4bcEihs pic.twitter.com/tgbshzlBWt— paulbrandt (@paulbrandt) January 14, 2021
The Canadian Rockies are a part of my soul. Learn how to #SaveTheMountains from @CorbLund here: https://t.co/9movgPQVbb pic.twitter.com/B0PfzcJDWV
— Terri Clark (@TerriClarkMusic) January 15, 2021
When the move was officially announced by UCP Environment Minister Jason Nixon back in May, he said, “Our government is continuing to protect our natural resources, including critical watersheds and biodiversity along the eastern slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains. Through this approach we are striking the balance of ensuring strong environmental protection with providing industry with incentive to increase investment.”
Nixon told the Calgary Herald late last week that there would be no “free-for-all” coal mining on the Eastern slopes of the Rockies.
