Hard to believe it is already time for another rant about the semi-annual time change.
I’ve written about this so many times now, I suppose I could just recycle one of my previous columns, but this time I’m actually a little bit angry about it.
Years ago, it didn’t affect me all that much (or maybe I just didn’t notice it), but now that I am *ahem* a little bit older and set into a relatively stable routine, it’s really been messing with me.
I really noticed it Sunday night. As usual, I went to bed at 10(ish). That’s what the clock said anyway, but my body was, like, ‘uh, no way buddy, far to early for sleep.’
It’s like being jet-lagged without the benefit of having been somewhere fun.
As the case for permanent daylight saving time (DST) grows, there is an argument that at some point in the distant past, there was a good reason for the time change, but that is no longer the case.
I’m not convinced there was ever a good reason for it, but now it’s just plain stupid.
Last year, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine came out in favour of eliminating DST citing evidence that workplace injuries, car crash deaths and heart attack risk all increased following the archaic “spring forward” ritual. Another 2023 study found that a week following the time change, people reported more dissatisfaction with sleep and higher rates of insomnia.
I don’t really care whether we switch to permanent standard or permanent daylight saving, but it is time to do one or the other.
B.C. recognized five years ago that the semi-annual ritual was not only stupid, but that an overwhelming majority of British Columbians wanted to end the practice. The legislature even passed a law to that effect.
But like his predecessor John Horgan, BC Premier David Eby has said that law will only be enacted if Washington, Oregon and California do the same.
All of those states have either passed laws, or tried to, but it’s a moot point because in the United States federal legislation blocks the states from doing it.
National bills have been introduced, but despite overwhelming bi-partisan support for ending the practice, the dysfunctional government in D.C. has been unable to enact them.
Clearly, somebody needs to take a leadership role here. Why not British Columbia?
Those three states that are ostensibly preventing B.C. from springing forward to a more sensible future want to do it.
Let’s give them a reason to. States have ignored the federal government before when it comes to cannabis laws. The time change is far less controversial.