Will this month’s clock change be BC’s last?

Eight clock changes have now happened since BC introduced its fall 2019 legislation to end the twice-annual switch. That move was made in response to a wide public consultation in which 223,273 surveys were completed and 93% of respondents wanted to end the change.

Accused this month by the official opposition of “falling back on tired excuses,” Premier David Eby reiterated predecessor John Horgan’s position that the only hold-up is waiting for the western US states.

BC’s priority is for the whole West Coast to switch together, to avoid adding inconveniences to trade relations. The public consultation that spurred the change also had a majority of respondents (54%) agreeing it was important to align the change with the neighbours.

Last week the US Senate voted unanimously to end the twice-annual switch. The Senate had made the same vote last year but, amid disagreement on which time to stick with, the Daylight Protection Act did not pass the US House of Representatives. Until some version of it does (or the province simply gets fed up waiting) the regular clock changes will continue to tick by (and tick off) us in BC.

Some want the change to go the other direction

Moving specifically to the later sunsets of Daylight Saving Time—the time we’re on now and for most of the year—is generally preferred by the public, and the support in the 2019 survey was specifically for the proposal of a switch to “summer” time.

But a group of UBC and SFU experts on sleep and health wrote to the province in 2019 to oppose this option. They argued that waking up before sunrise would mess up circadian rhythms, and that widening the difference between the social schedule and the natural clock would cause difficulty both waking up and going to sleep.

Reasons often cited for ending switches include reducing seasonal depression and preventing the bump in car crashes after the clock switches. But these writers argued that less morning light would worsen both mental health and car crashes (due to more grogginess and less visibility). They also argued kids were at risk from this darker morning travel, and from being woken at a biologically earlier hour for school during development years.

In the BC survey, students were the only industry / occupational group not to reach 90% support for permanent DST.

The letter recommended that the clock change end, but that Standard Time be made permanent (i.e sunset would get earlier in spring and summer). Then-Premier John Horgan said at the time that the legislation left that option open.

What do you think?

Some Capital Daily readers preferred this path too, when we put the question out to them last year.

“I believe we should stay on standard time.” Susan Nelson of Parksville wrote, emphasizing the circadian rhythm's importance. Similarly Jennifer Button wrote that business was being prioritized over health and wellness, zeroing in on the darker mornings and their effects: “Has anyone noticed that Canada is a northern country? January sunrise at 9:00, anyone?”

Other readers felt the change was right but that waiting for the States was unnecessary.

“It reminds me of COVID-19," reader Charlene wrote, “Canada had to close the border before the USA could make up their minds. It will happen when they see the benefits of not changing the time and staying on daylight savings.”

Yukon did just that in 2020, going ahead and stopping its change without BC.

But at the end of the day (regardless of exactly what hour that end occurs at), not everyone feels it really matters much either way.

“I personally feel that the whole issue is totally overblown,” wrote Bob Austin of Saanich. “An hour loss of sleep once a year is hardly a big issue. As for the inconvenience, most people’s time is kept electronically on phones, watches, and other devices that change automatically.”

Just keeping things how they are, and continuing to change the clocks, is the option that narrowly won out with 50.2% in the close vote in Alberta in 2021.

Some eastern parts of BC are on Alberta time either year-round or just for part of it. The Peace Region is on Mountain Standard time year-round, as is Creston after swapping zones a few times in its history. For decades they have been quietly already doing what the rest of the province is now awaiting, since permanent Mountain Standard is the same as permanent Pacific Daylight.