Manitobans asked for input on ending twice-yearly changing of the clocks

The Manitoba government launched an online survey Wednesday on the potential end of seasonal time changes.

The survey asks people whether they want to have year-round standard time, year-round daylight time, or keep the current system that sees clocks move ahead one hour in March and back one hour in November.

“I feel like daylight savings, I mean, it’s always been there. I wouldn’t vote to remove it. Just cause we’ve always had it. I mean, if you remove it, does that affect how we sleep and wake up? I don’t know,” said Abimbola Adewumi, a Winnipegger.

Jennifer Friesen, another Winnipegger, said, “I think we should get rid of it. I don’t think there’s any need for it, really. Keep the time the same. We don’t have that effect on our body every year.”

Premier Wab Kinew had promised the consultation earlier this year and had said Manitoba was likely eyeing the end of clock-changing. But the survey includes the status quo as an option.

“There’s a lot to consider,” Kinew said in a social media post.

“But which way should we go? Should we go? Do you want the earlier sunrises in winter with standard time? Or do you want the later sunsets in summer with daylight time? Or do you want to keep going back and forth?”

The Alberta government recently announced plans to stay on daylight time year-round, which will bring it in line with Saskatchewan, where the clocks do not change.

If Manitoba were to adopt year-round standard time, sunrises and sunsets would be an hour earlier in summer. In Winnipeg, sunset would come at roughly 8:40 p.m. in late June and 7 p.m. in early September.

If the province were to adopt year-round daylight time, sunrises and sunsets would be one hour later in winter. The sunrise in Winnipeg would be after 9 a.m. in December.

Kinew had earlier pointed to potential downsides in any change — some people would miss the late summer evenings under the first scenario. Others would not like children going to school in darkness in winter under the second scenario.

The United States tried year-round daylight time in the 1970s and quickly reversed course, due largely to backlash over schoolchildren facing late winter sunrises.

To help spur public input, the Manitoba government posted a six-page report on health implications of time change.

“Turning clocks forward or back by an hour disrupts sleep and the body’s natural daily rhythm,” the document says.

It points to two studies in the United States and Europe that have noted an increase in heart attacks after the spring time change, when people lose an hour of sleep. Data in Manitoba did not show any consistent pattern, the report says.

“If that is true, yes, it should be. Because that kind of seasonal depression is hard, but if we can do anything to minimize that, that would be the best decision,” said Adewumi.

Phil Veldhuis owns and operates Phil’s Honey out of Starbucks. He manages about 1,200 bee hives. He says while it’s a common theory that farmers would be most impacted, the time change wouldn’t affect his business.

“So, I think a lot of people think farmers want daylight savings, but nothing can be further from the truth. We work outside, we work by the sun and by the weather. And it doesn’t matter to us. We’re self-employed. We work long hours, and we’re up before everyone else and work after everyone else, so it doesn’t matter. If you think that you’re taking it on the chin with your daylight savings sacrifice for the farmers. That’s just not what we’re asking for,” said Veldhuis.

Despite that, he says it could affect others in the farming industry.

“The folks who run year-round livestock operations. Poultry. Dairy. Especially eggs. The egg chickens are very sensitive to time,” Veldhuis explained.

-With files from the Canadian Press