Bye-bye to bi-annual time change in B.C.?: Overwhelming majority in favour of sticking with year-round DST

VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – British Columbians responding to the province asking if our bi-annual time change should stay or go are unequivocal.

The results of a weeks-long public consultation have finally been released, showing a whopping 93 per cent of respondents saying it’s time to stick to Daylight Saving Time all year long.

This could be the next step toward a big change. B.C.’s premier has previously said he would consider making the change when the time was right. With this overwhelming majority in responses to a month long consultation, John Horgan says that time is now, or at least soon.

The pacific states voted to make the change, though none has done actually done so yet. Washington’s governor has said he will make it a priority.

All three states — including Oregon and California — must wait for congressional approval.

Read the full report:

Final report - Public Consultation on Daylight Saving Time in B.C.

Advocates celebrate

It’s a change Bob Dieno with the “Stop the Time Change” advocacy group has been pushing for since 2015.

“We were very, very pleased it was at 93 per cent to say the least,” he says. “It’s been such a big issue, not only in B.C., but in Washington, California, Oregon, there’s been places around the world that have stopped the time change recently as well. And I guess the more it’s in the news and the more people pay attention, the more interest there is in it.”

The results are very different from the last time the province consulted the public on this issue. In 2007, only around 10 per cent of respondents favoured abolishing the time change.

Some communities have chosen to simply ignore the switch, including Fort Nelson and the town of Creston.

Dieno has argued the loss of sleep caused by “springing forward” contributes to a proven rise in traffic accidents, injuries among minors, and even heart attacks.

“I’d really like to see us — if we do change the time now — in the spring, when we spring forward, we just stay there forever,” he says.