An Edmonton MLA says it is time for Albertans to stop changing their clocks twice a year, and he plans to table a Private Member’s Bill in the New Year aimed at dropping Daylight Saving Time.
Thomas Dang, MLA for Edmonton-South West, said he’s confident most Albertans want to see the time change dropped. The idea came up in the fall as a policy idea for the provincial government, but it seems a P.C. petition on the subject has sped up the process.
Earlier in the week, PC MLA Richard Starke tabled a few hundred signatures, and asked the province to repeal the Daylight Saving Time Act.
When MLAs return to the legislature for the spring session, Dang plans to table a bill to repeal the act.
Dang said every time Albertans change their clocks, he sees a flood of emails from constituents complaining about it.
“So I started digging more and I started doing research and studying the effects of ‘why do we do it’, and obviously it came from war time efforts, and some of those reasons just don’t hold weight anymore,” Dang said. “As I moved forward I thought this is something I could help champion that would affect so many people.”
Dang said he’s aware the issue could spark response from people who fall on both sides of the issue, and said he wants to hear from Albertans.
In Canada, only Saskatchewan, and parts of British Columbia, Nunavut and Quebec don’t change clocks for Daylight Saving Time.
Elsewhere, there is a growing movement in the U.S. and in Europe to either keep the time change year-round, or abandon it completely. At this time, about 10 states in the U.S. have proposed legislation to drop the time changes.
With files from Dan Grummett
