Alec Salloum
Regina Leader-Post
If Liberal MP Marie-France Lalonde has her way, the rest of Canada might finally catch up to Saskatchewan by ditching daylight saving time (DST).
Speaking in Ottawa on Oct. 2, Lalonde announced her intention to bring forward a private members bill this week which, if successful, could result in the end of DST for good. According to Lalonde, the bill calls on the federal government “to organize a pan-Canadian conference with provincial and Indigenous stakeholders to formalize a set time that would hold all year.”
If this were to occur, the entire country would be freed once and for all from the annual fall-ing back and spring-ing forward of clocks.
“The time has come to address time change,” Lalonde told reporters last week. “This unnecessary barrier impacts the lives of Canadians in more ways than simply adjusting their clocks.”
Following Sask.’s footsteps?
The timing of Lalonde’s bid came with a month-long countdown as people prepare to change their clocks on Nov. 2.
But it’s not just up to the feds, since each province has the final say on whether to ditch DST. Saskatchewan and Yukon are already ahead of the curve, having done so in 1966 and 2020, respectively.
In an emailed statement on Friday, the Government of Saskatchewan said people within the province “have always enjoyed not having to adjust to time changes and been well served by a consistent time throughout the year. Over the past few years, it appears that an increasing number of Canadians in other provinces are wanting to follow Saskatchewan’s lead.”
Time zone history
Saskatchewan has been on Central Standard Time (CST) since 1966 following a study by University of Regina professor Earl R. V. Milton. According to the province, “Milton was the only professional astronomer in Saskatchewan at that time.”
Milton recommended that Saskatchewan opt for Mountain Standard Time (MST), but instead it went with CST upon implementing The Time Act in 1966. Currently, the only location in Saskatchewan to follow DST is at the provincial border straddling the Lloydminster area, which uses the Battle River/Alberta time option.
Elsewhere in Canada, there have been flirtations with DST divorce since it was first brought in by the municipality of Thunder Bay in 1908. It was adopted more widely as a wartime measure in the early 20th century to improve production.
Not the first time
Alberta held a referendum in 2021 which asked citizens to vote on whether the province should cease its practice of changing clocks twice a year. In the end, 50.2 per cent voted no.
In 2020, the Ontario government passed legislation to abandon the practice if Quebec and New York state did the same. Atlantic Canada also came close to bailing on twice-a-year clock adjustments in 2022, but decided to hold off until neighbouring provinces and states made the first move.
“For over 117 years, we have simply followed this tradition, discussing it among ourselves at the dinner table, sharing how much this is meaningless or debating why it is we keep doing it,” said Lalonde.
alsalloum@postmedia.com
