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Creston, B.C. may finally give in to observing Daylight Savings Time

How time change impacts our bodies

Most of Canada suffered through the bummer part of Daylight Saving Time earlier this month – that day when we lose an hour of sleep and everything is terrible and we’re grouchy for no reason at all.

That's the cost of Daylight Saving Time, that annual tradition we signed on for in 1918 to save resources during the Great War. That was nearly 100 years ago and the concept of playing with our clocks has been somewhat controversial every since.

But one British Columbia town seems to have gotten it right, however, though there is now talk of change.

Creston, a town of 5,000 just north of the U.S. border, has never observed Daylight Saving Time, setting in apart from the rest of the province, nearby Alberta and the large majority of the western world.

According to Creston government documents, the idea of observing of Daylight Saving Time (DST) has been continually raised over the years with little movement. Now, the government is considering taking the question to a referendum during a local election later this year.

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The Globe and Mail reported on the unique time-change holdout, quoting Mayor Ron Toyota who said he wants the matter settled once and for all.

Residents of the town appear generally in favour of its DST standoff, although some speak of the confusion it causes in relation to accessing regional hospitals and other services outside the town border.

But with nearly 100 years of history as the town that wouldn’t change its clock, there’s little reason to bend now. After all, the benefits of DST are suspect in the modern age, and the town is by no means on its own.

Fort St. John, B.C., also ignores the time change. As do Saskatchewan, Arizona and Hawaii. Elsewhere, opinions are split and people debate whether to opt in or out.

A proposed Tennessee bill would have made that the third state to be exempt from DST, but the bill failed to pass earlier this week.

Puerto Rico was once on the brink of invoking Daylight Saving Time, but abandoned the plan over doubts it would actually lower power bills. The matter came back up for consideration at the end of last year.

The Australian state of Queensland is also embroiled in an ongoing war over the matter. Last year, a report suggested the regional economy lost $4 billion a year by not observing DST, though economists said they had doubt about those numbers.

Premier Campbell Newman said just this week that there were “far greater priorities facing our state that need our urgent attention”

At this point, there's little reason to rock the boat when time comes to time zones. Let sleeping dogs lie, as the saying goes.

Plus, consider this. The University of Alabama at Birmingham released a study that found the “spring forward” part of Daylight Saving Time was associated with a 10 per cent increase in the risk of heart attacks over the next two days. The study results essentially mirrored an earlier study from Sweden.

Why would anyone want to sign on for that?

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