The right questions weren’t asked on time change referendum
By Letter to the Editor on October 30, 2021.
Editor:
It’s very sad that having given Albertans a say on the long standing controversy of Daylight Saving Time (DST), Jason Kenney and the UCP party managed to screw it up by simply not asking the right questions.
The final tally shows that of those who voted, 49.8 per cent wanted to stay on DST year-round and 50.2 per cent wanted to continue changing the clock in spring and fall. Hardly a clear indication.
Interestingly, opinion polls over the last few years indicated that a majority of Albertans wanted to do away with the twice annual time change but were divided on Daylight time versus Mountain time.Â
Immediately after the vote a number of pundits (professional or otherwise), stated that the wrong question had been asked, insofar as a lot of people would have voted to stay on Mountain Standard Time (MST) year round, but instead chose to keep things the way they are changing the clocks twice each year.
But it wasn’t so much a case of the wrong question being asked as it was that the right questions weren’t asked. The referendum should have been a choice between three questions being: 1) Do you favour staying on Daylight Saving Time year round; 2) Do you favour staying on Mountain Standard Time year round; 3) Do you favour changing the clocks twice annually in spring and fall?
Immediately people would argue that if a majority favoured 1 and 2, it would leave an unclear message about which option would be implemented. Good point, but at least the question of changing the clocks twice annually or not would have been more clear. The issue of which time would be implemented, that could have been resolved in a pre-vote explanation of the results. The government could have stated if the majority voted option 1 and 2, but if there was not a clear majority between 1 and 2, the government would decide based on technical and economic factors of each for Alberta.
Now nothing has been clearly resolved.Â
 Lutz Perschon
Medicine Hat
-1
Well such is the democratic process. While I prefer maintaining MST year round, I accept the decision without the condemnation of Jason Kenney. Grow up. We either live in a democracy by vote or we live in one designed by you. I prefer the former. It has been clearly resolved by vote, you just didn’t like the result, tough.
So while you support this Liberal turned Reformer in Jason Kenney all the true conservatives in my world support what Perschon is saying.
Even Kenney has now admitted that his vote to change the constitution was literally a joke it can’t be done, just like we knew it was, but I bet you fell for it.
You need to wake up on get on board with the true Conservatives who can’t wait to kick this phony conservative out, instead of letting them call you a traitor as the conservatives are doing. Sadly you just aren’t very smart.
This applies to all these seniors who have allowed Jason Kenney to make fools of them, because that’s what he is doing.
Maybe you should google “Alberta’s Referendum on Equalization Will Have No Bearing on Constitution Experts Say”.
I actually contacted the Premier’s office well before the referendum and asked if we could have the question on the ballot for permanent MST. Again, unsurprisingly, I did not get a response and we were not given the opportunity to vote for permanent MST, unfortunately. I voted “No” to permanent DST. At least we get some MST over the winter, even though changing the times/clocks is very unhealthy. When I was working as a frontline health care professional we always knew we would get more folks in with heart attacks, strokes, motor vehicle accidents, other injuries….at the time changes.
Our natural circadian rhythm matches the best with permanent MST.
Messing with ‘earth clock’ disrupts our body clock.
Humans evolved within the day/night patterns of the earth. Changing clocks twice a year disrupts human biology and leads to a host of health impacts. Government is ignoring science. Why aren’t journalists informed and reporting more on this?
https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/how-to-manage-daylight-saving-time
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/circadian-rhythm/daylight-saving-time#:~:text=Humans%20are%20most%20vulnerable%20to,other%20nights%20of%20the%20year.
Staying with the twice yearly change is going to leave Alberta in an awkward situation, given that BC, Saskatchewan, Montana, Idaho and Washington, among others are staying on DST year round.
Alberta will experience a two-hour time difference with BC and others for half of every year. That will wreak havoc with travellers.