CROWSNEST PASS, AB – A convoy and rally in opposition to coal mining is set to take place this weekend in southwestern Alberta.
The Piikani “Mountain Child Valley Society” (MCVS) says it has been working steadfast for the past five months to raise awareness on the impacts of coal mining to the environment in Piikani ancestral lands.
The society says “we are deeply concerned with how coal mining will negatively impact the environment with selenium waste in our water streams, toxicity to the air we breath with coal dust that will blow through our community let alone tourism and the revenue that comes from it.”
The MCVS will be hosting a drive rally from Crowsnest Lake to the Piikani First Nation on Saturday, June 12.
“This is a great opportunity to gather as a community and send a strong message to the Governments of Alberta and Canada that we the First Peoples’ of Turtle Island say NO to coal mining in our beautiful province of Alberta, it is time to stand together as we are strength in numbers.” – Adam North Peigan, Chairman for the Piikani, Mountain Child Valley Society (MCVS)
Participants are to meet at 10am in the parking lot of Crowsnest Lake and travel east along Highway 3 to arrive in Piikani at 11:30am for speeches from Piikani Nation Members, Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips, country music entertainer Corb Lund and others.
Organizers say they will be mindful of COVID health restrictions.