B.C. Premier John Horgan has sent a letter to governors in the states of Washington, Oregon and California asking to be kept in the loop on no longer changing the clocks twice a year. The jurisdictions are looking at ways to stay on either Daylight Saving Time or Pacific Standard Time year-round.
“I think we can act in unison, the four jurisdictions, and make the argument we can stay in Daylight Saving Time or Pacific Standard Time and then do it together,” Horgan said. “My request to the governors was to share information with me.”
Support has been growing in California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia to leave the clocks alone. Horgan’s letter comes as a majority of British Columbians prepare to move the clocks forward on Sunday morning.
Horgan says there are too many economic and social ties that prevent British Columbia from going ahead with the switch without the other coastal jurisdictions. California voted overwhelmingly to look at sticking with Daylight Saving Time year-round.
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Democratic Rep. Kansen Chu of San Jose, Calif., said last year that he is pushing for the change because his dentist called him to complain about springing forward when clocks are moved up an hour every March. That switch takes away an hour’s sleep in the middle of the night as it shifts an hour of sunlight from the morning to the evening.
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Chu said he investigated the issue further and learned the original reason for implementing Daylight Saving Time — to save energy during the First World War — no longer seemed relevant.
The U.S. representative said he also came across studies showing an increased risk of car accidents and heart attacks following the spring change when people lose an hour of sleep.
“It’s a public safety measure,” Chu said. “And I don’t know anybody who really enjoys doing this adjustment of their schedule twice a year.”
B.C. Liberal MLA Linda Larson has introduced a private member’s bill that would establish a new time zone for the coast, Pacific Daylight Standard Time Zone. Larson says she has done extensive research on keeping the clocks consistent and has found that moving them twice a year has negative health impacts, leads to more crashes on the road and can be a nightmare for parents with young children.
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“I hope that when we move our clocks, our weekend, we never have to turn them back,” Larson said. “I would love to see us on the same time zone as the rest of British Columbia. The northeast and the southeast are already on Daylight Saving Time.”
“I have grandchildren, and it’s a nightmare to get smaller children to adapt. I would hope this gets resolved before the fall when we have to move our clocks back.”
—With files from the Associated Press
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