For as long as most Manitobans can remember, daylight savings time (DST) has been a biannual ritual we participate in for reasons which completely elude us.
In most parts of North America, DST means advancing our clocks by one hour on the second Sunday of March and then bumping them back again on the first Sunday in November.
The primary aim of DST is to maximize summer sunlight by essentially taking an hour from the morning and moving it to the evening.
Since the length of days and nights don’t vary much near the equator, countries in this region don’t generally practice DST.
Approximately 62 countries around the globe participate in some form of DST, including Canada, the United States, Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
The origin of DST goes back in time more than 100 years. Canada began observing the practice in 1918, immediately after similar legislation was passed in Germany and Britain. The hope was that a shift in daylight hours would help increase production for wartime efforts.
In Canada and other countries, DST was dropped after the end of World War I.
However, the practice was quickly resumed when World War II got underway. Many countries established different protocols. Great Britain, for instance, moved clocks ahead one hour during the winter months and two hours in the summer months.
The close of WWII, though, didn’t mean an end to DST. Although the practice continues in North America to this day, Canada’s federal government eventually gave some authority to the provinces, territories, and municipalities regarding its implementation.
In 1966, most of the province of Saskatchewan stopped observing DST, as well as parts of western Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia. In the U.S., two states don’t participate: Arizona and Hawaii.
Before 2005, the clocks were changed in early April and late October. That year, U.S. President George W. Bush signed legislation to change the dates to March and November. Canada followed its neighbour’s lead.
The rationale? To reduce energy consumption, since people wouldn’t need to turn their lights on as early in the evening. Little data has been provided to support the effectiveness of the plan.
In reaching out to local residents, The Citizen has found that most people seem to be in favour of ditching the practice altogether. This is especially true for parents of young children and farmers whose toddlers and livestock operate on schedules that don’t shift along with time changes.
If DST were ever to be dropped, some maintain that the summertime DST schedule is the one to keep all year-round.
