Some Alberta businesses dread possibility of scrapping daylight savings

Many businesses are hoping the sun will set on the province’s daylight savings bill.

As the NDP government pushes forward with talks on scrapping the twice-yearly clock change, urban and rural businesses alike are criticizing the plan.

“For farmers, in my opinion, it’s a non-issue.” said Lynn Jacobson, president of the Alberta Federation of Agriculture. “It’s more on the hours of sunlight rather than the time.”

He said most of the people he’s associated with are asking “Who cares?” because agriculture workers rely more heavily on the weather conditions than when the clock strikes midnight.

Jacobson said when the sun’s in the sky, workers are outside — it’s that simple.

“They’re spending extra time and money on a subject that’s just not important. There are a lot more important things to deal with than daylight savings,” said Jacobson.

The NDP first mentioned dumping daylight time in December 2016, before Edmonton-South MLA Thomas Dang introduced a private member’s bill — Bill 203 — in March to move the province to Standard Time year-round.

Dang couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday, but said previously he has received a lot of positive feedback with people asking him to keep fighting for this bill.

Albertans were invited to offer online feedback in June and July, and an overwhelming majority voted in favour of scrapping the time change.

Of the almost 13,600 Albertans who replied, 74 per cent said yes, 24 per cent voted no and the rest were undecided. Following the positive feedback, the province is moving forward with public consultations throughout September in Grande Prairie, Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge.

Despite the thumbs-up by residents, WestJet Airlines spokesman Brian Znotins said the change would significantly affect the company’s Calgary operations.

The city’s airport is growing as a hub for the airline and offers more than 55 non-stop flights to destinations such as Belize, Nashville and Orlando.

“Time is everything for an airline,” said Znotins. “In order for these markets to be successful, and any new flights to be successful, you have to bring guests from around Western Canada into the hub so that they can all connect to the same flight and make the flight successful.”

He said, for example, about 10 per cent of travellers going from British Columbia to Nashville connect in Calgary. If the daylight savings bill passed, the flight from B.C. into Calgary would have to leave an hour earlier in the morning — something Znotins said would be a challenge to fill.

Similar problems would occur on other non-stop flights departing from Calgary, meaning the company would look to grow elsewhere.

“For us, we believe, it won’t allow us to grow Calgary as much as we’d like and won’t allow us to hire as many new Calgarians,” said Znotins. “We think, given how much of an economic driver airlines and airports are for cities, it would be bad for the Calgary and Edmonton economies overall, and the Alberta economy as well.”

If passed, Bill 203 would align the province’s clocks with those in Saskatchewan year-round. Alberta would be one hour ahead of B.C. in the summer and two hours ahead for the remainder of the year.

United Conservative Party leadership candidate Jeff Callaway is calling the motion a waste of time.

“I rank changing the daylight savings plan along with having municipal referendums on photo radar. That’s not the priority of this province,” said Callaway. “It’s not going to get people back to work. It’s not going to solve the deficit. It’s not going to result in a cleaner economy and that’s what we need to be focused on.”

The committee must report its recommendations to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta by Oct. 4. If passed, the Act would come into force in November 2018.

August 28, 2017 9:35 AM

— Alanna Smith, Calgary Herald

http://edmontonjournal.com/storyline/some-alberta-businesses-dread-possibility-of-scrapping-daylight-savings