Alberta’s Smith, Lund disagree over petition meeting in wake of Rath texts

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and musician Corb Lund are at odds over the nature of a meeting they held last spring regarding his Water Not Coal petition, with him claiming he was not given the same access as separatist petitioner Jeffrey Rath who posted on social media text exchanges with Smith.

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The premier was asked about those messages in question period at the Alberta legislature on Oct. 29 with Official Opposition Leader Naheed Nenshi questioning why she gave access and advice to Rath.

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She responded that she engaged with Albertans all the time, including around her government’s changing of the citizen initiative rules.

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“It’s my job to help explain when legislation and regulations are coming, and I did that,” she said.

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Nenshi asked a follow-up question on the same topic, to which she responded that she was happy to explain regulations to whoever may ask.

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“I was happy to meet with Corb Lund as well to tell him a little bit about the timing of regulations and rules and how they would apply to his initiative as well. That’s just part of the job.”

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Lund’s petition sought to ban new coal mining activities on Alberta’s Eastern Slopes.

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Both Smith and Lund agree they met last May, but Lund told Postmedia in an interview that it took him “years” for him to get that meeting with Smith, which he said was not about clarifying the process.

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He said he instead sought assurances regarding the wording of his question should it be put on the ballot as well as how it would be framed on the government’s website, and that he was not able to get the same access as Rath.

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“It felt to me like we were treated very unfairly, especially when you compare it to how the other question was treated.”

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Smith’s office said in a statement that her government had been forthcoming and had meaningfully engaged with Lund, describing the discussion at the meeting as “cordial.”

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“Any suggestion otherwise is false,” its statement reads and pointed to the province’s work protecting 40,000 hectares along the Eastern Slopes, something it accused Lund of neglecting to mention.

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In July, Elections Alberta ruled his petition had come up around 5,600 signatures short after the validation process.

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Lund has filed for judicial review of that decision, claiming procedural unfairness and challenging Elections Alberta’s validation methodology.

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Lawyers for Lund appeared in Court of King’s Bench in Edmonton on Friday afternoon for a procedural hearing.

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Lund said his case will be heard in full at a hearing he expects to take place in March.

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