Crowsnest Pass residents voting on support for new coal mine

The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, home to about 6,000, is asking residents to say yes or no to a straightforward question.

It’s been more than 40 years since coal was king in the scenic Crowsnest Pass of southwestern Alberta, but a referendum vote Monday could sway a contentious debate on bringing it back.

The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass, home to about 6,000, is asking residents to say yes or no to a straightforward question: “Do you support the development and operations of the metallurgical coal mine at Grassy Mountain?”

Advance voting began days earlier and while Monday’s result won’t be binding or have any influence on regulatory or legal challenges, it’s another factor in the ongoing, polarizing public debate of economy versus environment.

Crowsnest Pass Mayor Blair Painter supports the plan.

“The fact is we have been on a direction of supporting this project. We don’t have an industry. We need an industry,” Painter said in an interview.

“Our tax base is over 80 per cent residential. We’d like to ease that off our residents and this would give us the opportunity to be able to do that.”

Australia-based mining company Northback said it wants to develop the Grassy Mountain coal project at a site that was mined over 60 years ago but never properly restored. It says it would be reclaimed throughout the duration of the project.

Northback says metallurgical coal, which is used to make steel, is a basic building block for any economy, but opponents worry about the impact on downstream drinking water and the broader ecosystem.