Time to spring forward? It depends where you live
In B.C. and Ontario, there's been public chatter about doing away with time changes for years. In Saskatchewan, most people have never changed their clocks. Here's a primer on where each of the provinces and territories stand.
British Columbia passed legislation in 2019 to move to year-round daylight time "at a time that maintains alignment with Washington, Oregon, California and Yukon," the B.C. government said in a media release. There are parts of B.C. that do not change their clocks: the northeastern Peace region and the southeastern town of Creston. They are aligned with Alberta (Mountain Standard Time) in the winter and B.C. (Pacific Daylight Time) in the summer.
Alberta held a binding referendum on Oct. 18, 2021, on whether to continue changing clocks twice a year. Albertans voted 50.2 per cent in favour of continuing the practice.
Saskatchewan does not change its clocks and remains on Central Standard Time year-round, meaning it's aligned with Alberta in the summer and Manitoba in the winter. Only the city of Lloydminster, which straddles the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan, follows Mountain Standard Time in the winter.
Manitoba introduced legislation to adopt permanent daylight time in 2022, but only if the U.S. does so as well.
Ontario passed legislation in 2020 to adopt permanent daylight time, but only if Quebec and New York state do so as well.
Quebec held an online public consultation about whether to abolish time changes and which system to adopt, in the fall and winter of 2024. Officials are reviewing the responses, the Quebec Ministry of Justice said in a statement.
Atlantic premiers mused publicly about adopting permanent daylight time in 2022, but said they would not pursue it unless others take the lead, noting that any change would likely involve the entire region.
Yukon moved to permanent daylight time (now called Yukon Time) in 2020 and no longer changes the clocks. It is aligned with Alberta in the winter and B.C. in the summer.
Northwest Territories held a public consultation on whether to end time changes in 2022. Survey respondents voted 87 per cent in favour of abolishing the changes, with just over half (53.2 per cent) voting to stay on daylight time year-round. The territorial government has yet to announce whether it will make the transition.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Calgary Herald
12 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
October election changes cost municipalities millions, longer return times
Article content The October 20 municipal election will bring new triple ballots, big bucks for hand-counting, and potentially days instead of minutes for election returns. Article content Spawned by the UCP government's Bill 20, electoral changes like the banning of tabulators will cost Edmonton taxpayers $4.8 million more in 2025. Article content Article content Voters around the province will face new registration procedures, three ballot papers per voter instead of one — and days, in some cases, instead of minutes to get election results. Article content Article content 'Better for democracy' Article content Article content In September, Premier Danielle Smith justified the mandate banning tabulating machines, saying that electronic vote tabulators have failed to produce fast results and public confidence. Article content Municipal affairs Minister Dan Williams said the move is about security. Article content 'Requiring all ballots to be counted by hand will ensure that all Albertans can trust the methods and results of their local elections, which is better for democracy,' Williams said in a written statement to Postmedia. Article content 'The time and cost to manually count ballots is outweighed by the increased confidence in election results,' he said. Article content Williams said the majority of municipalities across the province already hand count ballots for their elections, the federal government does, and the province will soon be hand counting ballots, too. Article content But Sherwood Park MLA Kyle Kasawski, the Official Opposition NDP shadow minister for municipal affairs, said vote tabulators have been cost savers for municipalities. 'They've allowed them to get more ballots counted faster and get the results out after municipal elections,' Kasawski said. Article content Article content 'What we've seen here with with the UCP is, I feel, like they're trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist and is just trying to make a small fringe group of their party feel better when, writ large, there's been no concerns about the results of municipal elections.' Article content Article content 'This time, if you're voting for a mayoral candidate, you're voting for a councillor candidate, and you're eligible to vote for a trustee in a school board, each of those races is going to be on a separate piece of paper,' said Aileen Giesbrecht, the returning officer for Edmonton Elections.
Calgary Herald
a day ago
- Calgary Herald
RCMP union challenges bilingualism claim in province's Alberta Next survey
Article content The union representing RCMP officers is disputing that its members do not have the opportunity to advance to senior roles unless they speak French, as claimed in the preamble to a new Alberta government survey. Article content On Wednesday, Premier Danielle Smith launched the province's 15-member Alberta Next panel along with corresponding online engagement questionnaires. Article content Article content Article content The panel is seeking feedback on measures Alberta could pursue to further assert itself against the federal government, with an initial focus on an Alberta pension plan, tax collection, immigration, constitutional changes, federal transfers including equalization, and a provincial police force. Article content Article content The panel's website has individual polls for each of those issues that can only be taken following a short animated video. Article content 'Because of French-language requirements, English-speaking Alberta officers do not qualify for senior RCMP positions,' states the narration for the video prior to the survey on a provincial police force. Article content The survey doesn't define what constitutes a senior position. Article content In a statement to Postmedia, the National Police Federation (NPF) president and CEO Brian Sauvé challenged the survey's claim. Article content 'As we've seen previously, the government of Alberta continues to mislead Albertans about the benefits of the Alberta RCMP,' he said. Article content Article content 'In its campaign, the government falsely claims that English-only members are barred from advancing to any senior ranks tied to government requirements. Unfortunately, this is yet another instance of the province spreading misinformation.' Article content The NPF is Canada's largest police union, representing 20,000 RCMP members, and has also been a longtime opponent of a potential provincial police force. Article content 'The National Police Federation is wrong,' reads a statement from Ellis's office. 'The RCMP has previously confirmed that all deputy and assistant commissioner positions in Ottawa are designated bilingual, as are senior positions held by civilians within senior staff.'
Calgary Herald
2 days ago
- Calgary Herald
Groups secure injunction pausing Alberta government's transgender health-care legislation
Alberta government legislation preventing doctors in the province from providing gender-affirming care to minors has been paused under a court judgment released Friday. Article content The Court of King's Bench of Alberta decision granted an injunction application led by Egale Canada and the Skipping Stone Foundation. Article content Article content Justice Allison Kuntz, in her written decision granting the temporary injunction, said Charter challenges raised by the applicants over Bill 26, the Health Statues Amendment Act, warrant further legal argument. Article content Article content 'The evidence shows that singling out health care for gender diverse youth and making it subject to government control will cause irreparable harm to gender diverse youth by reinforcing the discrimination and prejudice that they are already subjected to,' Kuntz wrote. Article content Article content The bill, introduced last October but not yet in full effect, restricted certain treatments and surgeries for gender dysphoria for individuals under 18, including a ban on puberty blocker and hormone therapies for individuals under the age of 16, and gender reassignment surgeries for people under 18. Article content The applicants included five gender-diverse young Albertans, aged six to 12, and their parents, in addition to the two LGBTQ advocacy groups. Article content They challenged the constitutionality of the amended provisions, arguing the changes violate rights guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Alberta Bill of Rights. Article content 'This is an historic win, affirming that young people in Alberta and across Canada deserve to live authentically in safety and freedom,' Skipping Stone founders Lindsay Peace and Amelia Newbert said in a statement. Article content 'As we have long argued, the government should never interfere in the medical decisions of doctors and patients or prevent parents and youth from deciding what medical care is right for them.' Article content The province had argued preventing access to puberty blocking drugs for trans children and other measures in the bill is based on evidence suggesting such treatments may be harmful. Article content 'Alberta . . . does not doubt the value of providing care to children facing (gender dysphoria or gender incongruence), but that care must be safe and evidence based,' government lawyer David Madsen told Kuntz at a March hearing. Article content 'That is what the legislation is about. Protecting the safety and long-term choice of children and youth from a risky and experimental medical intervention, for which there is little evidence of benefit and evidence of significant harm in some cases.'
