The Yukon will end the practice of twice annual seasonal time changes, the territorial government announced Wednesday.

Following a motion brought forward in May 2017 by Liberal MLA Paolo Gallina, the government undertook public engagement on the possibility.

After Yukoners move their clocks ahead an hour this Sunday morning, the territory will remain on Pacific Daylight Saving Time.

The recent seasonal time change survey drew more than 4,800 responses from Yukon residents and organizations, with most in favour of putting an end to the practice.

The What We Heard report released Wednesday shows that 93 per cent of Yukoners who participated want seasonal time changes to stop. Of those, 70 per cent are in favour of permanent Pacific Daylight Saving Time.

“Yukoners clearly want to see an end to seasonal time change, and we are listening,” said Premier Sandy Silver.

“The response to this engagement speaks to the importance of this issue for people. Thank you to everyone who took the time to voice an opinion. This helped our government make an informed decision for Yukon.”

The engagement ran from Jan. 6 to Feb. 16.

Among other things, Yukoners were asked whether they want to keep the twice-annual time change or permanently adopt a single time.

More than 4,800 organizations and individuals responded to the online survey. That’s 1,500 more than 2017’s engagement on cannabis, which was previously the highest.

The government also received more than 35 written and emailed submissions from a broad group of organizations and individuals from across the territory.

Many jurisdictions in western North America are reviewing how they set and observe time for a number of reasons, including public health, energy and the economy.

Meanwhile, the Yukon Party says its lengthy efforts to eliminate daylight saving time “have paid off.”

On March 14, 2018, the party noted, the legislature unanimously passed Yukon Party MLA Wade Istchenko’s motion committing the government to investigate the possibility of eliminating daylight saving time.

“At the time, the Liberals unfortunately amended the motion to remove any mention of consultation,” the party said in a statement.

“As the Liberals continued to drag their feet and do nothing on the file, the pfficial Opposition tabled private members’ legislation in the fall 2019 legislative sitting that outlined a clear plan to eliminate daylight saving time, hoping this would encourage the government to act and finally consult on the issue,” the Yukon Party said.

“As a result of these efforts, the Liberals finally agreed to consult Yukoners. Now, two years after the Yukon Party’s original motion to eliminate daylight saving passed, Yukon will be eliminating the seasonal time change.

In early 2018, Istchenko recalled, “the Yukon Party asked the Liberals to do the work and consult Yukoners on the possibility of eliminating daylight saving time, but they unfortunately stuck their heads in the sand and delayed it as long as possible.

“After two years of the Liberals doing nothing on the file, the territory is unfortunately far behind where it could have been had they taken action when the issue was originally brought forward.

“That said, I am glad that the Liberals are finally moving past their partisan delays and will be listening to the priorities of Yukoners.”

In May 2017, the Association of Yukon Communities passed a motion indicating it would like the government to determine if there was a case for removing daylight saving time.