We are going round and round on the clock talk in Alberta.
Two Alberta MLAs are in favour of keeping Alberta clocks on fixed time like Saskatchewan, instead of changing time twice a year. Edmonton-South West MLA Thomas Dang and Lloydminster MLA Richard Starke support skipping the twice annual, adjust-your-clocks exercise.
Dang has been appointed to consult with the public and report back in the new year to the NDP government. He is considering whether Alberta should join central time like Saskatchewan, or stay on mountain time and not move the clocks ahead in the spring.
PC leadership candidate Starke has also said if he becomes leader he will push for a referendum on whether the province should switch clocks twice a year. Starke tabled a petition last week recommending the province stop moving clocks forward in the spring and adopt central time. That would put Alberta on the same footing as Saskatchewan, which remains on central time all year round.
Almost since we went to daylight saving time there have been complaints about the clock changes. Few people like the clock changes, particularly the spring one. Some research shows there are more accidents, heart attacks on Mondays when we spring ahead, losing an hour’s sleep. Some research suggests workers are less productive on weeks when the time changes because of lack of sleep.
So what’s the big deal? Why not just leave the clocks alone?
Well the big deal is that unless there is widespread agreement on time changes in the zones where we trade and socialize, changing the Alberta time zone risks creating confusion and lost opportunities for business and social interaction across time zones.
If you are trying to reach your sister during her waking hours in B.C., or your business contacts in eastern Canada or the U.S. you now have a narrower window to do so.
A B.C. man, Bob Dieno, has been trying to get clock changes stopped across the Pacific time zone in B.C. and the U.S. He advocates that people encourage their MLAs to stop the practice of changing clocks. Years later he has been unsuccessful in getting that change. There appears to be little appetite across our trading zones.
Antarctica gets no daylight in the winter but continues to respect daylight savings time so that it can be in sync with its supply stations in South America and New Zealand.
So unless Alberta can get broad agreement to make changes with its business partners and social network, there is little advantage to ditching daylight savings time. What good would it be if Alberta sat like an island with Saskatchewan, if we are out of sync with our business contacts in western or eastern North America?
Any time change in small areas creates added confusion, and it creates lost opportunities for contact with people in other time zones.
So let’s stop the clock talk. Surely our politicians have higher priority issues than pandering to curmudgeons.
