No turning back

Turning the page on turning back the clocks in Manitoba was met with enthusiasm — and some hesitation — Thursday.

Calling the move “perfect,” the general manager of Larters at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club said a switch to permanent standard time would have hurt men’s and women’s golf leagues.

The course could have tried to open an hour earlier, but some after-work leagues may have been forced to cancel owing to not enough daylight.

“It would get dark too early and people can’t leave work early to go play an hour earlier,” said Geoff Kehler. “It would have been really bad for the business.”

Premier Wab Kinew announced Thursday the twice-yearly clock changes would end effective immediately — no setting clocks back an hour on Nov. 1 as has been the case for the past 63 years. He said a survey of Manitobans showed overwhelming support to lose the time changes.

“It will complicate some things,” said Aaron Dolyniuk, executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association.

Truck drivers, who can cross multiple jurisdictions in one day, face an adjustment period, he said.

With no more falling back in November, time differences will shift — cities like Toronto will be in the same time zone as Winnipeg for five months of the year, but then move back to a one-hour difference when Ontario springs forward.

Keeping up on when border and major transport crossings are open will take some getting used to, Dolyniuk said.

“But this is obviously something a lot of people were supportive of,” he said.

Come Nov. 1, most most communities in Northwestern Ontario will be one hour behind of Manitoba. Ontario remains on daylight saving time and will continue to change its clocks, but the Lake of the Woods communities lie in the same time zone as Manitoba.

Kenora Mayor Andrew Poirier wishes his province would be doing the same, especially considering the city’s close ties with Manitoba.

“We’re so aligned and integrated with Manitoba with tourism, with economic reasons, I think it makes sense that we would follow something similar,” he said.

The communities of Pickle Lake, Atikokan and New Osnaburgh, which are scattered throughout Northwestern Ontario, do not observe daylight saving time. Poirier admits it would be a tough ask to convince Ontario to go the way of its western Canadian counterparts, but perhaps establishing a region where clocks don’t change could be more feasible.

Poirier plans to bring up the issue at next week’s Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association.

Ontario passed a law in 2020 to make daylight time permanent — but only if Quebec and New York do as well. Both jurisdictions still observe daylight saving time.

The Keystone Agricultural Producers said having a bit of extra sunlight in the fall was welcome news to farmers. The organization passed a motion in 2019 rejecting a move away from daylight saving time when discussions first began. It cited safety risks of operating farm equipment in the dark, president Jill Verwey said.

More winter daylight at The Forks mean guests have an extra hour to enjoy its outdoor amenities like skating trails and art installations. It sees the majority of its visitors during the winter months, spokesperson Tineke Buiskool-Leeuwma said.

“A lot of folks are commuting on the Nestaweya River Trail, whether that’s walking, skating, or biking, and so they’ll have a more lit commute on the way home if they’re using it for that, and just in general, I think there will be more enthusiasm for winter,” Buiskool-Leeuwma said.

It’s even possible the change opens doors for discussions about hosting more winter events at The Forks.

A later sunset in the winter also means a later sunrise, which some school-aged parents are concerned about.

Jani Sorensen, who has two elementary-aged children in the Pembina Trails School Division, said she worries about them walking or biking to school in the dark.

“Are we going to walk along with a flashlight? My children have friends who walk by themselves to bus stops. What’s that going to be like for them?” she said.

Sorensen was supportive of ridding the daylight saving ritual because of the disturbance to her children’s sleep schedules, but hoped the change would be to standard time.

She worries about less daylight for students and teachers, especially during cold snaps when recess is cancelled.

“I think this is going to be more challenging than people might fully realize,” Sorensen said.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca