Time-change survey tilts a certain way

In the realm of seeking public input to help form government policy, there’s a not-so-fine line between asking people for their opinion and telling people what they should think.

Manitoba’s NDP government seems to have lost sight of that distinction in its pursuit of public engagement in the process to determine whether this province maintains or abandons the twice-yearly shift between standard time and daylight time.

On its public consultation website, EngageMB, the Kinew government is currently asking Manitobans to weigh in on the time-change question. But the way the questions are presented makes it pretty clear the province has, to a large extent, already made up its mind.

Consider the wording of the survey’s third question: “An analysis by Manitoba Health has shown that the seasonal time change is linked to a number of negative health impacts. Were you aware of any of these risks?”, followed by check boxes for “Stroke,” “Obesity” and “Injuries and traffic accidents.” The next question asks, “Does knowing that the seasonal time change has these negative impacts change your view?”

Question No. 5 refers to a Stanford University study that concluded the health benefits of switching to permanent standard time (earlier sunrises) are the most significant, though adoption of permanent daylight time (later sunsets) also shows benefits in comparison to maintaining the current time-change tradition. “Does this impact your opinion?” the survey asks.

There are no questions or mentions regarding the potential impacts of earlier sunsets on the many recreation and leisure activities — softball and slow-pitch leagues, kids’ soccer and baseball schedules, afternoon/evening golf bookings and even outdoor dining — that are an important part of many Manitobans’ summer experience.

It seems clear from the survey’s makeup, and from earlier remarks by Premier Wab Kinew, that the government favours eliminating the time change and prefers permanent standard time as its alternative.

Interestingly, a recently completed independent poll by Winnipeg-based Prairie Research Associates suggests nearly three-quarters of Manitobans support eliminating the time change and 34 per cent would prefer a move to permanent daylight time (18 per cent favour permanent standard time).

EngageMB was in the news this week after it was revealed the company tasked with overseeing this and other surveys is, in fact, American. Washington, D.C.-based Granicus LLC is in charge of hosting EngageMB’s survey work, after it acquired Bang the Table, the Canadian firm originally engaged for the task.

This creates something of a public-relations problem for the Kinew government, which has has railed against U.S. tariffs and preaches a “buy local” philosophy, and which last June amended the Government Purchases Act to allow consideration of preferential treatment for Canadian suppliers in its bidding processes.

In response to questions about a U.S. firm handling Manitoba-focused polling, a provincial spokesman said transition work is already underway to establish a process for selecting a Canadian company to host the EngageMB platform.

But the geographic attributes of the firm currently handling EngageMB’s work are not the only thing about the time-change survey that should concern Manitobans. So, too, should the way the government either requested or endorsed a poll whose questions are so obviously skewed toward a desired outcome.

The EngageMB time-change survey will continue collecting public input until the fall, after which it’s assumed the results will be presented as justification for whatever legislative action follows. If it truly intends to formulate a policy reflective of Manitobans’ desires, the province would have offered a survey whose questions weren’t written with eight fingers on the keyboard and both thumbs on the scale.