Like clockwork, daylight saving time strikes again this weekend

Waking up this coming Monday will likely be more difficult, thanks to Daylight saving time. Could it be time to hang up the concept for good? Adam Stiles busts some misconceptions around switching the clocks.

By Adam Stiles

Monday’s are hard enough to get up when the alarm goes off, but this Monday is going to be particularly difficult as we lose an hour of sleep this weekend due to Daylight Saving Time.

But does the time shift really have that big of an impact on our bodies? The experts say yes!

Azadeh Yadollahi, a sleep scientist at Toronto Rehab Institute, says the quick shift in time will affect most people for about a week. However those that are more vulnerable with medical conditions, age-related illnesses or mental disturbances may experience a harder time of adjustment.

“So each one of us have an internal clock called Circadian Rhythm and this internal clock controls everything in the body,” she says.

The time shift comes at 2 a.m. local time Sunday in most of the United States and Canada.

So why do we do this to ourselves, is there still a point to switching the clocks? Some say there are economic and cultural benefits, but these turn out to be misconceptions that I am going to clear up.

MYTH VS FACT

Who came up with this scheme?

Most people think it was Ben Franklin, who made a satirical statement in a paper about the French getting out of bed earlier to save on candles. The idea didn’t take shape until the 1900’s and Ontario was one of the first places to adopt the concept. Port Arthur, now Thunder Bay, started the practice in 1908.

Moving to DST each spring SAVES energy

Not really.

“What we would say today is we don’t see changes in how much energy is used but when it’s used,” says Martine Holmsen, senior manager of communications with Independent Electricity System Operator. “So for consumers if you delay the use further in the day you pay lower for electricity so it’s one way to take advantage of it.”

Everyone’s Doing It

Ontario has begun discussing ditching the time change. In the spring of 2019 Liberal MPP Marie Lalonde introduced a bill in the legislature to stick with DST year around in Ontario. Lalonde has since resigned her seat and was elected as a Federal MP, leaving the act sitting at Queen’s Park after first reading.

British Columbia currently is sitting on legislation to make the shift to permanent daylight time, but are waiting to see what their neighbours to the south in Washington, Oregon and California are going to do. However, the province says they are in a position to move quickly on making the change.

The European Union has decided to scrap the practice of changing the clock come 2021, where they will leave it up to the individual countries to decide which time to adopt, standard or daylight, or as it is referred to in some countries, Summer Time.

Saskatchewan doesn’t make the change to Daylight Saving Time and this will be the last time that Yukon will spring forward.

Standard time returns on November 1st.

Love it or hate it, we are doing it again this year, but is it time to ditch it for good?

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