Dear Editor:

I’m writing to request support for Boundary-Similkameen MLA Linda Larson’s new private member’s bill in the provincial Legislature to abolish Daylight Savings Time in British Columbia and to put the province on Standard Time throughout the year.

As a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), and resident of Oliver, I have observed that every few months, when we continue to change our clocks back and forth, there are people one hour late or early for appointments. There are also sick time increases, productivity decreases, children have difficulty waking up and being alert in school, diabetics and other people with medical conditions that require medications at specific times struggle, heart attacks increase, car accidents are more frequent, pedestrians are struck more by cars, and there is a general sense of upheaval among many residents, for various other reasons, in the days following time changes.

I ask that this issue receive non-partisan support, to study and understand the negative and positive effects of the time shift, and to pass legislation in B.C. that will change the Interpretation Act and consequential amendments.

In the fall and winter months, while there is naturally less sunlight anyway, we also turn back our clocks, so it becomes dark about 4 p.m. in the Okanagan Valley.

This is earlier in the eastern portions of the province and in towns more mountainous than at the coast.

I’ve heard that we started changing the clocks for the farmers, for business, because the rest of the world was doing it, etc.

Most farmers I’ve spoken to, say their animals are used to a routine for being fed, and don’t appreciate the time changes either.

The original bill to introduce DST came in 1918 and was aimed at saving coal.

If a majority of people would like to keep the time changes to continue as they are, perhaps a referendum would settle this issue?

An Aboriginal/First Nations acquaintance of mine said it best, “Only the government could tell you that if you cut a strip off the top of a blanket, and sew it onto the bottom, and then repeat that process every few months, then you would have a better blanket.”

The time has come to consider the effects on our children and grandchildren, as we continue an old tradition of cutting and sewing these strips of time.

Jaret Blidook

Licensed Practical Nurse

Oliver, B.C.