Manitoba considers move to permanent daylight time, but there are conditions

The Manitoba government is planning to do away with seasonal time changes and move to permanent daylight time, but only if the United States leads the way and the idea gets public support.

The Manitoba government is planning to do away with seasonal time changes and move to permanent daylight time, but only if the United States leads the way and the idea gets public support.

Municipal Relations Minister Eileen Clarke introduced a bill in the legislature Thursday that would let the province ditch the annual ritual of moving clocks forward an hour in March and back an hour in November.

The aim, she said, is to stay in sync with trading partners south of the border if the U.S. adopts permanent daylight time.

"We do want to align with them because of the trade corridors and transportation and everything," Clarke said.

Ontario and British Columbia have passed similar laws that are also contingent on states south of the border adopting year-round daylight time. But there is no indication that might happen any time soon. A bill to adopt the change was passed unanimously in the U.S. Senate in March but has stalled in the House of Representatives.

Permanent daylight time was last considered in the United States in 2006. In the end, politicians voted to extend daylight time by three weeks in spring and one week in the fall, and Canadian jurisdictions that change clocks followed suit. Saskatchewan, with the exception of Lloydminster, hasn't changed clocks in over a century.

Manitobans will be consulted on the idea early next year, Clarke said. She admitted feelings are mixed.