Clocks and cows not made for time change

In Canada, we’re long past the medicare-for-all debate. That was so 1960s. We’re onto the next great endeavour: Daylight saving time forever! 

And as usual, Saskatchewan is leading the nation. If B.C. becomes the first of many to follow our lead this spring, to adopt permanent daylight saving time (DST), then the change-your-clocks-twice-a-year debacle will finally be a thing of the past. 

No one wants it anymore. 93% of BC residents said they don’t want to change their clocks. Alberta (along with many U.S. states) is also looking at scrapping it. I’m quite convinced that most of the world hates it. 

So why do we have it? There are countless theories as to why DST was implemented in the first place. They range anywhere from conserving energy to keeping us (and the cows) on a natural rhythm. 

But as the “pilot project” in Saskatchewan has so aptly demonstrated, it’s all smoke and mirrors. Our biological and other rhythms are functioning splendidly. Sure, some people call us backwards, but that has nothing to do with us not changing time. Our cows still produce their milk, our seniors still wake up in the morning (most of the time), and our children grow up straight as an arrow. 

Sure, there are critics. One doctor suggested our circadian rhythm is impacted when we stay on DST in the winter time. She said it's not good for us to go to school and work when it’s dark. And to that I respond, Where are you from? Most Canadians wake up for half of the year without the sun shining. We have these things called headlights on our cars, which guide us to buildings that have artificial lighting and abundant heat. Then the sun rises and we all wake up.

What’s worse is  having the sun pierce through my drapes at five in the morning, a killer for anyone over the age of 40. Unlike my daughter, who can wake up at 8 am and fall right back to sleep, I lie awake in the early hours of dawn, wondering what I’m going to do with my day... and my life. It’s the worst feeling ever.

 Most people agree that sunlight in the evening is preferable to sunlight in the morning. In fact, there are people from Saskatchewan who actually want to augment our DST by adopting double DST. I know, it’s crazy. They want the sun to set at midnight in June! That’s how much we like our sunlight in the evenings.

If you look at the literature (and I’ve read the entire Wikipedia entry on DST), changing the time twice a year results in very little energy savings. Savings in the evenings are wiped out by losses in the mornings, and vice-versa in winter.  

But the greatest danger is to human health. People get on average 40 minutes less sleep when changing the time in spring, causing an increase in vehicular accidents, workplace injuries and even heart attacks and strokes. One study out of the U.K. showed there was an 11% increase in traffic accidents for two weeks after the spring time change. It just goes to show how much we need our sleep. 

So come on, Canada, join the good feeling Saskatchewan folks feel twice a year, when most of the world changes their clocks and we simply shrug. 

Not even the cows complain.