Premier says N.W.T. won’t scrap seasonal time changes until Alberta does | CBC News
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N.W.T. Premier R.J. Simpson says if Alberta ever decides to scrap seasonal time changes, “we’re right there with them and ready to go.”
Until then, though, he says it wouldn’t make much sense for N.W.T. to act on its own.
“We are so closely tied to Alberta that we want to ensure that we can maintain the same time as them,” Simpson said in the legislature on Friday.
“We have lots of medical appointments, we do lots of business with Alberta, there’s flights, all of those things, and we don’t want to cause any problems.”
This past week, British Columbia Premier David Eby said his province will spring forward an hour for the final time Sunday in an effort to make life easier. That prompted Alberta Premier Danielle Smith to then say it was time for her province to consider doing the same.
“We’ll be doing some consultation now, to see if now’s the time to consider doing it,” Smith told reporters on Thursday.
Smith also said that she had already discussed the issue with Simpson in the previous day.
The N.W.T. premier said the only benefit he sees from continuing with seasonal time changes is that it keeps the territory in line with its southern neighbour.
He also pointed to a survey the territory did in 2022 about the issue, that received 3,545 responses. Nearly 87 per cent of respondents were in favour of switching to a permanent time standard.
Still, Simpson noted that it’s not a simple change, pointing to Yukon’s decision to move to permanent daylight time in 2020.
“You have to contact Google and Microsoft and Apple, and you’re on the phone talking to these companies trying to get it done — and we’ve learned from our friends in the Yukon that it is quite an ordeal to do it alone,” Simpson said.
Simpson said if and when Alberta scraps seasonal time changes, the N.W.T. is ready to follow.
“It’s a strange ritual that we’ve all gotten into and I’m anxious to get out,” he said.
“We have legislation in place where the minister of justice just needs to basically snap his fingers and legally we will have ended time change.”