Coun. Bev Buckway's fellow city council members didn't want to give the time of day to a motion that could have led to an end of Daylight Saving Time in the territory.

A report was brought forward at Monday evening's council meeting with Buckway proposing the city petition the Association of Yukon Communities (AYC) to lobby the territorial government to discontinue Daylight Saving Time in the territory.

That would be done by the territory rescinding its cabinet order from 1987, which brought in the regulation to spring clocks an hour forward on the first Sunday in April each year. They fall back to standard time the following autumn.

'We have an AGM (annual general meeting) for the Association of Yukon Communities and I wanted to bring the matter forward here because Alaska is looking at this,' Buckway explained to reporters following last night's meeting.

She went on to note the AYC would be the place for municipal officials throughout the territory to have a good discussion on the matter.

The Alaska legislature is considering doing away with Daylight Saving Time.

Buckway was hopeful other council members would look at it from a tourism point of view. Visitors travelling to Alaska through the Yukon would be affected by the time difference, she said.

If Alaska goes ahead with ending Daylight Saving Time, there could be a two-hour time difference between the territory and the northern-most state for part of the year. Currently, the Yukon is an hour ahead of Alaska.

'If we just didn't have the Daylight Saving Time and they didn't have it, then we're at least a little bit more on an even-keel,' she said.

However, the proposal left at least one councillor wondering why something should be fixed that's not broken.

'I find it works quite well, especially being in the rural residential part of the city,' Coun. Mel Stehelin said. 'What would be the rationale? I don't live in Alaska.'

Buckway pointed to the numerous Yukon/Alaska border areas. She suggested if the territory wants to work more co-operatively with its neighbour, the issue could at least be discussed by Yukon communities.

Originally an energy-savings measure, she also argued with the amount of daylight this far north during the summer, there aren't a whole lot of energy savings.

'It's kind of a redundant situation,' she said.

Stehelin argued the extra hour of daylight can make a big difference in the spring.

Coun. Dave Stockdale also said he wasn't in favour of putting forward a proposal to have the territory end Daylight Saving Time. He also questioned how other jurisdictions such as Fort St. John in northern British Columbia and Saskatchewan that aren't on Daylight Saving Time deal with flight schedules and other such items.

'They adapt,' Coun. Doug Graham said.

Buckway said the reaction from other councillors last night wasn't what she was looking for.

'They don't want phone calls to their parents to be at different times, they're worried about their sports schedules and they kind of like the hour difference where they live,' she said.

She had hoped members would be a little more considerate of the tourist situation, she added.

With proposed resolutions for the AYC's upcoming meeting, set for May 13-15, due today, Buckway said the issue isn't likely to come up at the annual conference.

'From the comments here, it's pretty obvious that there's no support here,' she said. 'And what happens is it won't get discussed at AYC, of course, because nobody else will bring it forward.'

As a director on the AYC board, Buckway could bring forward her proposal at the conference on her own. However, having the rest of Whitehorse city council behind her would likely add more weight to her argument, Graham, also the AYC's president, said in an interview this morning.

Asked how other municipal politicians might react to the proposal, he replied, 'I have no idea.'

It's an issue that's never come up for the organization, he said.

While other council members may not be in favour of Buckway's proposal, she believes it's something the territory may have to consider if Alaska ends Daylight Saving Time.

'It's not gone forever,' she said.