Alberta premier suggests move to permanently adopt daylight time may not last forever
Premier Danielle Smith says Albertans may head to the polls in 2027 if they don’t enjoy the outcome of moving to permanent daylight time.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Alberta would be moving to permanent daylight time, meaning clocks in the province would not be moved back again in the fall.
The move came weeks after the Province signalled it was considering the change, in response to neighbouring B.C., which did away with biannual clock changes earlier this year.
Speaking at a government press conference on Wednesday, Premier Smith was asked about the plan to switch to permanent daylight time and why there was no referendum on the decision, which could have been done before the next time change in November.
Smith said she felt the Province gave Albertans enough notice about the change, making sure that they did not give people only a couple of weeks’ notice.
“One of the other considerations is just that we are now an island. We’re seeing that American states are passing policies saying that they want to end the time change. British Columbia got a little impatient; they said they can’t wait for America to go. They’re going first. Saskatchewan’s already there, Yukon’s already there,” Smith said.
The decision got forced on the Province, according to Smith, who added that come the fall, people would likely be asking why nothing was done since a lot of neighbouring provinces and territories have come to align on the issue.
She added that now is the opportunity for Albertans to not have a time change this fall and not have a time change again next spring, allowing people to see what it means to have a little bit later sunrise and a little bit later sunset.
“I’m sure we’ll get a gauge on whether or not people think that we’ve made a mistake. And if that’s the case, then we have time if we need to add an additional referendum question to the ballot in October 2027. But I think we need to live it first and then see what the reaction is.”
You can watch Smith’s full comments below.
The conversation around doing away with moving clocks forward and back isn’t new. In October 2021, a provincial referendum asked voters whether to adopt permanent daylight saving time. Of those who cast a ballot, 50.2 per cent voted to continue changing clocks twice a year.
Do you wish Alberta would stop changing its clocks twice a year and move to permanent daylight saving time? Let us know in the comments.