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End near for changing times twice a year?

Maple Ridge cows would like to ‘mooove’ to Daylight Saving
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Matthew Laity said cows will like changing to Daylight Saving Time year round. (THE NEWS/files)

This weekend, it’s time to spring forward into daylight saving time as part of the semi-annual ritual that disrupts North America.

But maybe one day, it will be the same time – all year long. B.C. Premier John Horgan said Thursday he has written to the governors of California, Oregon and Washington, where state legislators are all considering bills that would let them opt out of turning the clocks back an hour each fall, then ahead in the spring.

That could mean it’s time for B.C. to do the same, Horgan said. He has described the seasonal time change as the number one issue he is contacted about since becoming premier in 2017.

Two local farmers say they would be OK without the twice-yearly exercise where clocks, radios, computers, microwaves and ovens are turned forward in the spring, then back in the fall.

“The cows don’t like the time change,” said dairy farmer Matthew Laity.

Cows have to be milked at certain times of the day so it’s not possible to suddenly change their schedule.

In order to adjust gradually to the new time, he changes the cows’ milking time by a few minutes every day until they’re back on schedule.

He said it doesn’t matter to him if B.C. stays on Pacific standard time or daylight saving time, which comes into effect on Sunday.

“I’m up before the sun anyways, so I see it all. The cows may like that better too.”

Beef farmer Bob Hopcott said from a farming perspective, it doesn’t make a difference but he does like the longer evenings offered by the daylight saving time and would like to see that year round. “That I would love.”

Maple Ridge-Mission MLA Bob D’Eith said people are passionate about the topic and said he was interested in hearing from people on the issue.

Horgan’s action came the day after Boundary-Similkameen MLA Linda Larson presented her version of the change to the B.C. legislature for a third time. Larson is calling for daylight saving time to be adopted year-round.

“The daylight saving time is the time people want,” Larson said. “They want the extra daylight in the summer months. People are more interested in the light in the nicer months, than they are in the winter months.”

– with files