Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has breathed new life into her province's deliberations over whether to ditch twice-yearly time changes.

On Tuesday morning, the issue appeared dead as an all-party legislature committee cited potential economic impediments for the trade-focused province – and unanimously voted to advise against a private member's bill that would see Alberta clocks be set on Mountain Daylight Time year-round.

However, Ms. Notley said notwithstanding the advice from the committee, there will be a free vote on the issue in the legislature this fall.

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She insisted the majority of Albertans want to see the province ditch springing forward and falling back each year. The Premier also suggested she's not completely swayed by the economic arguments against the time switch made by WestJet and pro-hockey teams.

"There were some good considerations raised about economic impact, and so I think it's important for us to dig into that a bit more," said Ms. Notley, speaking to reporters in Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.

Bill 203, proposed by NDP backbencher Thomas Dang, would end Alberta's 45-year-old ritual of changing the clocks. As early as November, 2018, the province would exist in a new time zone called Alberta Standard Time.

Mr. Dang has argued that switching the clocks in November and March results in vehicle crashes, workplace injuries and disruption to family routine as people adjust to the time change. The twice-yearly switch also hurts agriculture production, he said.

However, WestJet has argued the change risks putting Alberta's airports and travellers out of sync with other travel hubs. The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames say the change would muddle the NHL schedule for potentially dozens of games each year. For instance, in order to sync with other games being broadcast on "double-header" Saturday nights, games in both Calgary or Edmonton would have to start at 9 p.m. and end at midnight – which could dampen both ticket sales and viewership.

Alberta's oil-focused economy has been hammered by the crude-price drop that began in 2014. In speaking about the decision to reject the bill, MLAs from the legislature's standing committee on Alberta's economic future cited their hesitation adding any further burdens on Alberta businesses during the period of shaky economic recovery.

NDP MLA Michael Connolly said that while many of his constituents support getting rid of the twice-yearly time change, he believes "it wouldn't be prudent to do so by ourselves."

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"We do have to work with the other jurisdictions in Canada," he said. "Doing it unilaterally would not benefit Alberta."

But Mr. Dang said on Tuesday if other jurisdictions move in step with Alberta toward "one time year-round," it actually could happen.

On Tuesday, Ms. Notley said she's convinced Albertans want this change because committees usually receive dozens of submissions on any given issue. However, on the time question, the committee received more than 20,000 responses, she noted, and a significant majority was in favour of an Alberta Standard Time.

"I think it's clear that the majority of Albertans on the street would like us to see move forward with this," she said.

The question of time appears trifling, but the debate could also slide into one that pits Alberta's NDP government against some business interests based in the province. Already, the government and some sectors have clashed over NDP policies, including the province's carbon tax and rising minimum wage that will hit $15 an hour by October next year.

If Bill 203 went ahead, Alberta would be more closely aligned with Saskatchewan than British Columbia – at least when it comes to the time. The change would mean two hours difference between Alberta and B.C. from November to March – instead of the one hour that has always been the norm.

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Since 1966, Saskatchewan has been the Canadian outlier in sticking with the same time system throughout the year. If Alberta switched to its own version, it would be on the same time as Saskatchewan year-round.

With a report from The Canadian Press