Q: When was daylight savings time instituted in B.C.? What is the reason for it? Does it have anything to do with giving farmers more time to plant their crops? Or was it a wartime measure? And what purpose does it serve now?
A: Last Sunday British Columbians "sprung forward," setting clocks ahead one hour.
The idea of daylight savings time -or summer time as it is known in some parts of the world -is credited to New Zealander George Vernon Hudson, who developed the idea in 1895.
English builder and golf enthusiast William Willett also developed the idea in 1905, as a way to have extra daylight for his evening golf games. Willett published his proposal, and a motion to adopt daylight savings time was introduced in the British House of Commons in 1908, but the proposed legislation failed.
The proposed purpose of daylight savings time was to take advantage of more of the daylight during the summer. By moving clocks forward an hour, it forced people to rise earlier and take advantage of daylight previously being "wasted" in the early morning hours while most people are asleep.
Germany became the first country to adopt daylight savings time on April 30, 1916. However, the reason Germany passed the legislation had little to do with getting an extra hour of golf in the evening, and was primarily a wartime power savings measure.
By adjusting the clock forward during the summer, there was daylight for more of the primary hours people are awake -reducing the amount of coal and other fuel needed to for lighting.
The U.K. quickly followed Germany's lead, as did many other countries in Europe. In 1918 Canada and the U.S. also adopted daylight savings time.
Clocks in British Columbia were first turned forward an hour on April 14, 1918 as a result of the national Daylight Savings Act. Several cities -including Montreal; Winnipeg; Halifax; Hamilton, Ont.; Brandon, Man.; and St. John's, Newf. - had already adopted daylight savings time before it was nationally mandated.
It's a common myth that daylight savings time was instituted to benefit farmers. In fact, many farmers opposed the change.
Library and Archives Canada has a copy of a May 3, 1919 resolution by the Manitoba Grain Growers Association opposing daylight savings time. The resolution, which was sent to the Department of Agriculture, said the 1918 law "... proved to be a waste instead of a savings, retarding agricultural production, and imposing hardship on the school children..."
The Daylight Savings At was allowed to lapse after the war - although daylight savings was legislated nationally again from 1942 to 1945 during the Second World War.
Since 1945, legislating daylight savings has been left to the provinces.
In 1952, 53.6 per cent of British Columbians voted "yes" on a plebiscite to introduce daylight savings time.
However, during a referendum on the issue in 1972, voters in the town of Creston and the Peace region voted against continuing to use daylight savings time. Now Creston and Peace region communities like Dawson Creek do not move the clock forward and back with the rest of the province.
Creston and the Peace use Mountain Standard Time year-round, instead of Pacific Standard Time - with daylight savings time -like the rest of the province.
Parts of Quebec and Ontario also don't use daylight savings time.
There are some who say that Dawson Creek has the right idea - and not just people who don't like balancing on a stool to change their clocks twice a year.
In 2008, Swedish researchers reported that they had examined medical records over 20 years and found an approximately seven per cent increase in heart attacks during the three weeks following the switch to daylight savings in the spring, and a corresponding decrease for three weeks after the clocks are turned back in the fall.
A 2012 University of Alabama at Birmingham study reported a 10 per cent increase in heart attacks during the first two days following the switch in the spring, and a 10 per cent decrease in the two days after the return to standard time in the fall.
A 2007 German study found late risers, in particular, have a difficult time adjusting to the switch in the spring and may feel sleep deprived for weeks.
A U.S. study found an increase in pedestrians being hit by vehicles following the switch back to standard time in the fall.
The province has changed and updated its daylight savings regulations over time, and B.C.'s current daylight savings regulation came into effect on Jan. 1, 2007. The regulation replaced previous B.C. regulations from 2003.
Since 2007, B.C. has moved the clock forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday of November -an extension of four weeks over the previous regulation.
The change was made to keep B.C. in line with changes to daylight savings time in the U.S.
A 2006 report by the U.S. Department of Energy anticipated a power savings of 0.4 per cent per day on each of the extended daylight savings -equal to a total annual U.S. electricity savings of 0.03 per cent.
The nonprofit group American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy estimated the energy savings in the U.S. would reduce cut carbon emissions by 10.8 million tonnes.
Lawmakers in Canada -excluding Saskatchewan, which has not observed daylight savings time since 1966 - argued it was important for Canada to harmonize its daylight savings time with the U.S. to prevent cross-border trade issues. Between 2005 and 2007, all the provinces and territories that observe daylight savings time passed legislation to harmonize the "spring forward" and "fall back" to match the U.S.
So daylight savings time today has much the same purpose as it did 1918 - to save power by reducing demand for artificial lighting, staying in line with Canada's only neighbour and trading partner, and maybe having an extra hour of daylight in the evening to play a round of golf.
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