Small but vocal

On Monday of the long weekend, a small but vocal group of protesters opposed to coal development gathered in the Crowsnest Pass. Their signs, emblazoned with slogans like “No Poison in Our Rivers” and “AER is Selling Our Future,” left no doubt about their target, coal mining and the Alberta Energy Regulator.

Why choose the Crowsnest Pass? Why bring your cause to a community that, in a legal and democratic process, a non-binding referendum, voted in favour of coal development? Why disrupt traffic on a holiday Monday, obstruct a crosswalk, and stage your demonstration in the heart of a town that continues to feel ignored and talked down to by those outside its municipal boundaries?

That protest wasn’t about changing policy or fostering dialogue. It was about optics, choosing a highly visible location with a picturesque mountain backdrop to get a media moment. It was also about pressure. Protesters didn’t go to the legislature. They didn’t gather outside the offices of the Alberta Energy Regulator or Ottawa’s environment ministry. They came here to a working class town with a proud mining legacy to make their stand on our doorstep.

You have to ask, was this about visibility, or intimidation?

Photos of the event show a crowd made up largely of senior citizens. What’s telling is who wasn’t there, young people. Maybe because they’re too busy working two jobs, trying to afford groceries, heat their homes, and pay skyrocketing rents. Maybe they’re in the trades, the oilfield, or hoping for future employment in an industry that still has life and potential. Or maybe they’ve simply given up trying to be heard by people who write them off as collateral damage in a climate crusade that offers no viable alternatives.

You can’t feed a family on ideology. You can’t power a province on protest signs. And you certainly can’t build trust with rural Albertans by showing up only to tell them how wrong they are.

Another thing stood out in the protest imagery, Canadian flags. Many of the demonstrators waved them proudly, a symbol of national identity and unity. But given the tone deafness of the group, I have to wonder, was this meant as a show of patriotism, or a subtle implication that those of us in the Crowsnest Pass are somehow less Canadian because we support coal? Because we’re fighting for jobs? If that was the message, it’s as insulting as it is misguided.

Let’s be clear, protest is a democratic right. We don’t dispute that. And coal mining should absolutely be held to rigorous environmental standards. But so too should protest be rooted in truth, in context, and in a willingness to engage, not just impose.

I’ve had several people, many of them members of the very anti-coal groups that have blocked me online, come to me and say, “Lisa, they don’t like you.” Just a reminder, if any of them are reading this editorial, I wear that as a badge of honour. I stick up for the people in my community and this province who believe in responsible resource extraction. I stand with those who trust science over hysteria, who understand the value of hard work, and who believe in the black gold that built the Crowsnest Pass into the beautiful, but stressed, place it is today. Intimidation doesn’t work on me. Perhaps they missed that memo.

The people of the Crowsnest Pass are not anti environment. They’re not climate change deniers or blind to the need for transition. But they are realists. And they deserve the dignity of being part of the conversation about their own future, not just the target of someone else’s message.

If the protesters truly want to change hearts and minds, they might start by listening. Ask why the people here continue to support coal. Ask what it’s like to raise a family in a region whose industries are constantly under siege. And maybe then, instead of showing up with slogans, they’ll show up with solutions.

Until then, spare us the showboating. We’ve got real work to do.