November 7, 2021 Time

Time.

For all of human history, people have been trying to determine the exact nature of time. No matter what, we can’t stop the passage of it. For the past hundred or so years we have tried by setting out clocks back one hour.

Why?

Some people blame the farmers for wanting a later sunrise. But farmers don’t like Daylight Savings Time. So why do we continue to change our clocks twice a year? 

It all started in World War 1 when The German Empire decided to change their clocks one hour forward in the spring and one hour back in the fall to save on coal during the war. The allies and most neutral countries in Europe followed suit. In 1918 The USA also adopted DST. The logic has been to conserve energy and get longer hours in the evening to enjoy leisure time. Sunrise at 4:30 am became a 5:30 sunrise and therefore people enjoyed more daylight hours in the summer. After the war, Germany stopped the use of DST as did many other countries. It was re-adopted when World War 2 broke out and the need for conserving energy again became an issue.

Does it really conserve energy? During the energy crisis of the early seventies, many people thought it did, so places that had stopped using DST began to implement it again. As with many things this was done in an attempt to look like something was being done, the actual effectiveness is still up for debate.

For those years from 1918 until 2007 clocks were changed in the spring on the first Sunday in April and in the fall on the last Sunday in October. In 2007 the US government decided to move the change forward in the spring to the second Sunday in March to avoid the time change falling on Easter Sunday. In the Fall, the time change was pushed back to the first Sunday in November – most likely to create more daylight for Halloween. In Canada, we followed the Americans lead to stay on the same time with our neighbours to the south.

I always wondered why my daughter trick or treated in daylight but I remember it being dark when I went out as a kid. I wasn’t imagining it, the days are longer now – sort of.

Very confusing.

In order to eliminate the confusion many places around the world are trying to do away with the whole changing of the clocks. Places like Saskatchewan and Arizona are way ahead – or is it behind? Last year there was a referendum held in BC which saw 93 percent of the population vote to remain on Daylight Savings Time permanently. 

Yet here we are still changing our clocks.

The Yukon voted to change to permanent Pacific Savings Time or Mountain Standard Time -they actually made the switch and this year did not fall back. 

In BC we are waiting for California, Oregon, and Washington to change their system before we adopt permanent PST.

Why wait?

The politicians in Victoria tell us that we need to stay at the same time as our neighbours. I guess people aren’t smart enough to change the clock when they cross the border. 

Alberta recently had a municipal election and they had a referendum to switch to permanent Daylight Savings Time. It was narrowly defeated, 50.2 percent to 49.8, a very close result. Many people voted against the switch due to the negative effect of the sun rising at 10:00 am in many parts of the province. But what difference does that really make?  People argue that kids would be walking to school in the dark – kids still walk to school?

Others in Alberta wondered why switching to permanent Standard Time was not an option. Imagine if BC switched to permanent Daylight Savings and Alberta went to permanent Standard Time. There would be a two-hour difference between provinces. 

So confusing.

So in BC, we changed our clock back one hour and now the sun rises at 7:00 am and sets at 4:30 pm. by the time we get to the winter solstice the sun will peek through our windows at 7:56 am and disappear from our day at 3:56 pm. I don’t know about you but I prefer to get the extra hour in the afternoon, not the morning. But I’m not a morning person. 

I would like to see the province make the switch to permanent DST and do away with the silly changing of the clocks. Even changing to permanent Standard time would be fine. Time is very subjective anyway. If you want to see the sunrise then just get up earlier. But changing the clock just creates confusion and messes with our heads far too much to be worth the effort. 

Time – certainly a first-world problem.

Click to watch the trailer for Daylight Saving the movie.