Edmonton MLA Thomas Dang says he won’t give up his fight to have Albertans stop changing their clocks twice each year.
“This is something people support, and something people want, so I will continue to fight for that for them,” Dang told reporters Tuesday after an all-party legislature committee unanimously rejected a private member’s bill that proposes ditching the twice-yearly time change in Alberta.
The five-member committee said that the bill has merits in terms of health, but there would be too much of an economic impact on business at a delicate time.
Earlier this year, Dang, an NDP backbencher, spearheaded the bill that would end the practice of moving clocks forward an hour in the spring and turning them back in the fall.
WestJet told the committee that eliminating the time change would lead to economic losses.
The province’s two National Hockey League teams were worried about late start times.
Public consultations on the bill have shown people greatly divided on the issue.
It was revealed last week that holding a referendum on ditching the time change would cost millions.
After the committee’s decision Tuesday, Dang said he believes Alberta now has an opportunity to take the debate over time changes to a national audience.
“I want to look at this as an opportunity to make a broader change and make that difference that I was talking about for Albertans, because Albertans are the ones that spoke so loudly on this issue,” he said. “That opportunity now exists on a nationwide scale, and I’m really looking forward to that conversation.”
He said if other jurisdictions move in step with Alberta toward “one time year-round,” it may happen.
“I’m looking forward to see whether other legislators reach out to me, and I can talk to some of my colleagues that I know in other jurisdictions,” he said. “And just see where this conversation takes us, and where Canadians want to go with this conversation.”
He said he understands that in the United States as many half of the states are currently looking at legislation to end daylight time.