EDMONTON — Premier Daniel Smith says it is worth considering a trial of year-round daylight time before asking Albertans if they would like to abandon time change, and which format they would support if it did. "Half of the people would say daylight year-round; half would say standard time year-round," said Smith in response to a caller during her Your Province. Your Premier. radio show Saturday. "So, maybe Randy has a good saw off. So, let me take that away. I'll talk to some folks about it.”.Albertans voted on a time change question in 2023, when they were asked: "Do you want Alberta to adopt year-round daylight saving time, which is summer hours, eliminating the need to change our clocks twice a year?"In a vote separated by 0.4%, Albertans voted against the change. However, many have criticized the vote, claiming it asked the wrong question and should have asked about adopting year-round daylight time. Another hiccup the vote was a split among individuals who would like to abandon the current format but differ on whether they want to see Alberta adopt year-round daylight or daylight saving time. On Saturday, a caller suggested to Smith that a trial run of year-round daylight saving time could be useful, giving Albertans an idea of what they are voting for or against. "I would just like to see people experience, and I can accept what it is if people are making an informed choice, but if we just vote, and we've never experienced it, we might make the wrong choice, and then it might be written into law, and then we might be stuck with something for another 50 years," said the caller. Smith said the caller's idea was "very persuasive,” and has previously said he believes 100% of Albertans would agree Alberta needs to abandon time change, but there could be a 50/50 split over what format to adopt..Time change became a key discussion in Alberta in March after BC decided to adopt permanent daylight saving time, announcing that the March 8 spring ahead would be their final time change. Their decision left Alberta sandwiched between provinces that have abandoned the time change, with Saskatchewan using Central Standard Time. These differences mean Alberta's time is aligned with Saskatchewan's during the summer, and BC's during the winter..Smith said BC's decision has put pressure on Alberta to re-evaluate the discussion around time change, and her government is looking at the available options. "I recognize that there's very heightened passions on both sides, but I think we can all agree that we should end the time change," Smith said on her March 7 radio show episode. "It just doesn't make sense anymore for us to be putting ourselves through the body changes."She supports adopting year-round daylight time. "So if you think about it, we're already eight or nine months on daylight time," Smith said. "It would be less disruptive to stay on daylight time year-round." .However, regardless of what Alberta decides to do, there is only a certain amount of sunlight available. "All I would say, if that's the direction that we go, I cannot manufacture more sunlight hours," Smith said on Saturday. "I just can't." "The longest day in winter, right now, with the old time change, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The sun does not come up till 9:30 on the shortest day, and it goes down at 4:30. I cannot manufacture more time. Your kids are still walking to school in the dark, and your kids are still also going to be coming home, probably in the dark. It's just a shift."
