B.C. moving to permanent daylight time

Premier David Eby announced a move to permanent daylight time for most of B.C., bringing an end to twice-yearly clock changes come November.

This Sunday will be the last time British Columbians have to adjust their clocks for a biannual time change.

Premier David Eby made the announcement Monday that the province is making a shift to permanent daylight time.

“Thanks for making the time,” Eby quipped, opening a news conference with an audience of school children who would later join him in dancing to Daft Punk’s ‘One More Time’ while holding clocks made out of construction paper.

“When we change our clocks twice a year it creates all kinds of problems,” the premier said, noting the disruption to schedules, an increase in car crashes after the clocks change, and “a huge unnecessary impact on the lives of British Columbians.”

The move makes good on a pledge by Eby’s predecessor John Horgan that dates back to 2019. At the time, Horgan tabled legislation that would pave the way for an end to time changes but stipulated a desire to maintain “alignment” with Washington, Oregon and California.

But Eby said B.C. is tired of waiting, while alluding to the province’s broader plans to move away from interdependence with the U.S. amid an ongoing trade war.

“We’re also going to make decisions right now where British Columbia decides what’s best for us,” Eby said.

The change means when people in other parts of Canada “fall back” this November, most of B.C. will not. Communities in the province that use mountain time will not be impacted.

Opposition, business group bristle at announcement timing

The Opposition B.C. Conservatives support the idea of eliminating time changes, but the party’s interim leader said he’s skeptical about the decision to announce it Monday.

“The premier is trying to distract right now—and I kind of don’t blame him,” Trevor Halford said. “Because if you go outside this building, nothing seems to be going right.”

Political scientist Stewart Prest said he’s not surprised the timing raised some eyebrows.

“I do think there is an attempt to turn the page from the budget, which was not well received by just about anyone,” the UBC professor said.

Eby, for his part, shrugged off the criticism, saying he was delivering something most people in the province support.

“The reality is, every once in a while, our government will try and do something that is popular,” the premier said.

Ninety three per cent of British Columbians who voted in a 2019 online survey supported a permanent move to daylight time. But that the majority of those supporting the idea in the survey were in favour of a scenario that would have seen B.C. lining up the move with other jurisdictions.

Bridgitte Anderson, the head of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said she was unhappy with the lack of consultation preceding the announcement—and troubled by the decision for B.C. to go it alone.

“This comes as a surprise,” she said.

“The premier himself said he wasn’t going to go ahead with this unless there was alignment with Washington and Oregon and California.”

Eby said he thinks there is time for those states to make similar changes before November.

“I’m hopeful, ultimately, in terms of ease of commerce and some of the other reasonable concerns that people will have down the west coast that Congress makes the the right decision and lets the western states follow us,” he said.