EDMONTON — The Government of Alberta introduced legislation on Thursday to shift Alberta to permanent Mountain Daylight Time and establish the Alberta Time zone, as part of an extensive bill that the UCP claims will cut red tape and make life better for Albertans and small businesses. "We've seen Saskatchewan do it; BC has done it; Northwest Territories has said they're looking at doing it," said the Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, Dale Nally, on Thursday. "We would be an outlier, and so we are moving forward with ending time change, and we're going to align ourselves, essentially, with the exception of Manitoba, with the rest of Western Canada.".Premier Danielle Smith has teased the decision to abandon time change since March, after BC adopted permanent Pacific Daylight Time.She immediately said BC's decision gave Alberta plenty to consider because it left them sandwiched between BC and Saskatchewan, both of which have abandoned the practice of time change.Thursday's announcement of Bill 31 means Alberta will soon run on Alberta Time, sandwiching them between Pacific Time, which is one hour behind Alberta Time, and Central Standard Time, which is even with Alberta Time.Smith quickly began advocating for permanent daylight time when discussion began in March, but told Albertans that her government would reassess whether Alberta should abandon the time change and, if so, whether to adopt daylight or standard time."So if you think about it, we're already eight or nine months on daylight time," Smith said on her March 7 Your Province. Your Premier. radio show. "It would be less disruptive to stay on daylight time year-round." She believes it would be less disruptive for Alberta to do so. Further, Smith argued that businesses and travellers would benefit if Alberta were only one hour behind the Eastern Time Zone during the winter.Conversely, Flames and Oilers fans will have to endure 9 p.m. Alberta Time puckdrops when their teams play in California and other Western States, as they watch at home."I'm sure that there are fans in this room that are as big a fans as I am, but certainly, knowing this room is a bigger Oilers fan than I am, and I got to tell you, you can drop that puck at 10 p.m. and I'm not missing the game, and I think there's a lot of Albertans that feel that way," Nally said..Albertans had the opportunity to vote on switching to permanent daylight time in 2023, but voted against the move in a referendum separated by a 0.4% margin.Some have criticized the vote, though, saying it was flawed because it offered only the option of permanent daylight time, not permanent standard time.Smith had the opportunity to allow Albertans to vote on a time change in the upcoming referendum, but opted against it, saying it would not give individuals and businesses time to adjust between the Oct. 19 referendum and a potential time change on Nov. 1."I think that that's what we saw when the BC ended up announcing that they were not going to be changing the clocks again, because there are a number of different professions that rely on doing schedules in advance, airlines, hockey games, there's a number of things," Smith said on Wednesday..The Alberta NDP have criticzed her decision to seemingly go against the will of Albertans expressed in 2023, and also forgoing adding a question on the matter to the already scheduled referendum.Smith herself has said that, though many Albertans would agree that they need to abandon time change, there would be a near 50/50 split with passionate viewpoints on either side of the permanent daylight or standard time debate.She credited a caller from her March 14 episode of Your Province. Your Premier. who suggested that Albertans be given a one-year trial of daylight time before making them permanently commit to it.Though Smith would not commit on Wednesday to giving Albertans the chance to vote on whether to stick with permanent daylight time, she said that if there is significant criticism after people have had the opportunity to experience a winter on daylight time, they may add it to the 2027 election ballot."As I say, no one is shy of telling me what their opinion is, and so I'm sure we'll get a gauge on whether or not people think that we've made a mistake," Smith said..Bill 31 also amends 17 other pieces of legislation across seven ministries.One of those amendments looks to provide clarity on advertising rules for iGaming companies, as Alberta begins to roll out their new regulations to allow third-party providers, by clarifying that the Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis has the authority to set advertising regulations, on top of those found in the Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Act.Amendments will also grant AGLC a limited ability to sell and transfer personal information, in the hypothetical event that AGLC elects to sell the Play Alberta platform to an outside company.Changes to the Provincial Parks Act will look to strengthen conservation efforts and improve the visitor experience in Alberta parks.The bill will also make amendments to the Irrigation Districts Act to expand irrigation districts in areas east of Lethbridge, west of the Blood First Nation reserve, and surrounding Strathmore.
