The Alberta government has officially scrapped a bill aimed at doing away with the semi-annual time change.
Late Monday afternoon, MLAs voted to kill Bill 203, the Alberta Standard Time Act. This means Albertans will continue to change their clocks twice a year.
READ MORE: Committee scraps bill to create Alberta-only time zone
Edmonton-South West MLA Thomas Dang, who introduced the private member’s bill, said despite the vote, he wants to continue the conversation.
“In principle, what we heard from everybody in the house is, ‘We support this initiative because Albertans support this initiative.’ We just need to make sure we’re not moving that alone,” he said.
“It’s important that since the committee did recommend the government work with other jurisdictions to move this issue forward, that it’s something that as it continues to move through other legislatures and provinces and states across North America, that we’re a part of that conversation and we really try to guide that conversation.”
The topic has been debated for months, with people and organizations across the province speaking out for and against the idea.
In a survey released in August, more than two-thirds of the 13,500 Albertans who responded said the province should scrap Daylight Saving Time.
READ MORE: Thousands of Albertans want to get rid of Daylight Saving Time
However, several organizations — including the Oilers Entertainment Group — were against the proposed bill.
Had Bill 203 passed, there would have been two hours difference between Alberta and B.C. from November to March and one hour difference between Alberta and B.C. from March to November. The time in Alberta would have been the same as in Saskatchewan all year round.
Bill 203 was defeated by a vote of 46 to 6.
Comments