Switching Back to Standard Time This Coming Weekend, November 2, 2008

Posted by Susanna McLeod Oct 30, 2008

Is there any real value in changing the clocks an hour ahead in spring and back an hour every fall? The idea is to make better use of daylight – rather than sleeping valuable daytime away, set the clock ahead and get up earlier to seize the day. Money would be saved by using less electricity for light and power, and more productive work would be accomplished.

First suggested by Benjamin Franklin in the late 1700s while he was minister to France, said CBC News In Depth, Daylight Savings Time was not instituted for a well over 140 years later. An English writer, Robert Willett, brought the idea back to live in 1907 and Germany was the first to adopt the policy in 1915. In a short time, Britain, parts of Europ, the United States and Canada followed along. The provinces make their own choices on the use of Daylight Savings and Standard Time.

For decades, the clocks were “sprung ahead” on the first Sunday in April and “fall back” on the last Sunday in October, but in 2007, the United States government decided to re-adjust, with Daylight Savings beginning three weeks earlier on the second Sunday in March, and ending a week later, on the first Sunday of November. Because of our major trade concerns with the US, Canada followed suit. According US reports, the savings in electricity and carbon emissions make it all worthwhile,

I find the change little more than a minor discomfort in the spring, when we lose an hour of precious sleep, but a joy in fall when we regain the time. I would rather set the clock at Standard Time or half-way between the two and just leave it. Wouldn't that be more practical?