Daylight Saving Time

It is 7:30 on a Sunday morning. I have been up for an hour. The clocks were all moved back an hour last night and my internal clock, at least in terms of when I wake up, has not yet been adjusted. That is okay - for just over 70 years, or to be exact 141 times my body has been required to either fall back or move ahead an hour. You would think that I would be used to it. And I am. Certainly, when one is retired, there is far less stress about any adjustments - especially in the fall when it feels as if we have gotten an extra hour in which to do anything we wish. Of course in the spring - it is not so great.

The province of British Columbia has made it official that it wants to do away with the whole business of changing our time back and forth every six months. The bill that they have proposed only allows them to do it - it does not say when they will. The whole conversation is absurd.

1) The BC government conducted a survey last year asking residents if we should do away with changing the clocks back and forth on a semi-annual basis. 93% of the people who responded to the survey said yes. Those of us (the majority) who either do not care, have learnt to live with it or who think that the whole question is a silly waste of our time - did not participate in the survey. Of course, the majority of people who responded wanted a change, but it should not be believed that it was a binding referendum.

2) With the exception of Saskatchewan, who has never participated in the daylight saving scheme, no other province in Canada - or any state in the US is planning on making a similar change anytime soon. Given the strained relationship at the present time between Alberta and BC, it is reasonable to assume that Alberta, in the foreseeable future, will not do anything that BC wishes or suggests. It should be noted that the most eastern part of BC is in the Mountain time zone and therefore will not be part of any change. Doing away with the loss and then the gain of an hour on a yearly basis might make some sense, but only if everyone agreed to it. It makes virtually no sense for BC to do it alone when our nearest trading partners will be sticking to the present system.

3) If BC does make the change - it would be good news because for six months of the year, the time difference between Ontario and BC would only be two hours. That would make it slightly more convenient for my daughter and me to arrange for our 50-minute telephone chats every 10 days or so. But there is so much else to deal with - issues that are critical to people's survival including the problems with drug abuse, the lack of affordable housing, the limited access to services in the northern areas, the multitude of issues involving our environment - the list is almost endless.

I get that by addressing the time change the government appears as if it is doing something about something. It is meaningless. Please work on important issues. Come the spring, I will regret that hour of lost sleep - but I will get over it - I always have.