A divergence between Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario would not necessarily require a new zone called "America/Kenora". We already have America/Rainy_River which represents Northwestern Ontario. Currently America/Rainy_River is linked to America/Winnipeg, but it could be converted to a dedicated zone. One wonders, however, if the city of Kenora will decide to follow Winnipeg time even if it is not supported by the Ontario government. This would be no different than the town of Atikokan which has been ignoring the Ontario provincial legislation for many years. Things are getting messy; very messy. -chris
On Thu, Sep 17, 2026 at 2:46 PM Tim Parenti via tz <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Thu, 17 Sept 2026 at 14:30, James Bellaire <[email protected]> wrote: > >> On 9/17/2026 2:06 PM, Tim Parenti via tz wrote: >> >> While other options may have required legislative action, it appears the >> *Official >> Time Amendment Act*, assented to 30 May 2023, allows for this, but I am >> still seeking confirmation on whether that is indeed the mechanism that >> will be used. >> >> I agree with that position. They left the legislation at the "Royal >> Assent" stage similar to British Columbia and Northwest Territories. The >> more recent legislative efforts were to change the law to take effect on a >> specific date instead of waiting for proclamation. All Manitoba needs to >> proceed is a proclamation. >> >> Here's the legislative text: > https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/2023/pdf/c00423.pdf > >> I have not researched the effects on western Ontario. I was hoping >> Manitoba would proclaim it affective in March 2027. >> > Absent action from Ontario, it would put the portions of western Ontario > that have observed Central Time an hour behind Manitoba in the winter, > despite being east of Manitoba, as they would fall back to UTC−6 while > Manitoba stays on UTC−5. > > Worth noting that Ontario's *Time Amendment Act, 2020*, assented 30 > November 2020, and does allow a similar regulatory trigger. While it had > been stated at the time that they would only do so in conjunction with > Québec and New York state, that restriction does not appear in the text, so > it's quite possible that Manitoba's decision will indeed have ripple > effects into central and eastern Canada. > > https://www.ola.org/sites/default/files/node-files/bill/document/pdf/2020/2020-11/b214ra_e.pdf > > A divergence between Manitoba and western Ontario would require a new zone > America/Kenora, but as we have experienced recently in southeastern British > Columbia, at this very late stage, there may be some value in pressing > "pause" before creating new zones. > >> Manitoba legislature sits Sept 29th-Nov 5th if they don't simply proclaim. >> >> Nunavut legislature sits Oct 22nd if Cambridge Bay (or now Rankin >> Inlet/Resolute) want to join the party. >> > Just when our long-extended March "silly season" had finally started to > calm down a bit… the September one picks right up where it left off. ;) > > -- > Tim Parenti >
