Manitoba’s government plans to scrap seasonal time changes and move to permanent daylight saving time, but only if the United States takes the lead and the idea gets public support. Municipal Relations Minister Eileen Clarke introduced a bill in the legislature Thursday that would allow the province to abandon the annual ritual of moving the clocks forward one hour in March and back one hour in November. The goal, he said, is to stay in sync with trading partners south of the border if the U.S. adopts permanent daylight saving time. “We want to align with them because of trade corridors and transportation and everything,” Clark said. Ontario and British Columbia have passed similar laws that also depend on states south of the border to adopt daylight saving time year-round. But there is no indication that it might happen soon. A bill to enact the change passed unanimously in the US Senate in March, but has been delayed in the House of Representatives. Permanent daylight saving time was last considered in the United States in 2006. In the end, politicians voted to extend daylight saving time by three weeks in the spring and one week in the fall, and Canadian jurisdictions that change their clocks followed suit. Saskatchewan, with the exception of Lloydminster, hasn’t changed its clocks in a century. Manitobans will be consulted on the idea early next year, Clarke said. He admitted that emotions are mixed. “It’s a very divisive debate among Manitobans.” Having a year-round sunset would preserve late summer sunsets, but also result in later winter sunrises. In some areas, commuters and students would make their morning journey in the dark. Some sleep experts said permanent standard time, which would lead to earlier sunrises and sunsets in the summer, would be better. Raymond Lam, a professor at the University of British Columbia and BC’s lead in depression research, said standard time is healthier and more aligned with the body’s circadian rhythm. Russia experimented with permanent daylight saving time in 2011, but switched to permanent standard time three years later. The opposition New Democrats of Manitoba conducted an online survey about the time changes in 2019. The party never reached a conclusion. “The results of this consultation have been mixed. There are a lot of big polarized views on this issue,” said NDP member of the legislature Adrienne Sala. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 17, 2022
