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Changing clocks twice a year will be a thing of the past for parts of northwestern Ontario.
The province announced Tuesday that parts of northwestern Ontario will be moving to permanent daylight savings time as of Nov. 1.
The move allows the communities to align with Manitoba, which announced last month it will move to permanent daylight savings time on Nov. 1.
Kenora-Rainy River MPP, Minister of Northern Development, and Minister of Indigenous Affairs Greg Rickford said the decision comes after consultations with municipalities and First Nations in the area, which runs from the English River to the Manitoba Border.
“On a practical side, an overwhelming majority of the people of northwestern Ontario sitting in the central standard time zone just thought it made more sense to go with Manitoba, because our transactions are more typically with them,” Rickford told CBC News on Tuesday morning.
“We heard from particularly health entities, who said ‘look, whatever decision’s made, it should involve the least amount of time zones possible, because there are electronic medical records, and their appointment planning either in Manitoba or Thunder Bay would be impacted by that,” he said. “And secondly, could we do that as quickly as possible so that they could begin those preparations?”
Rickford said the changes won’t affect anyone in the eastern time zone, such as Thunder Bay.
More to come.
