Pacific Time decision creates issues

BC’s decision to ditch seasonal time changes will leave much of BC in the dark on winter mornings, with southern BC not seeing the sun rise until at least 9:30 am.

The province shifted to permanent Daylight Saving Time on March 8, with one week’s notice by Premier David Eby.

The new Pacific Time zone raises a host of potential issues for the farm sector, according to the BC Landscape and Nursery Association (BCLNA), which plans to join with other organizations to lobby government to reconsider its move.

“There was very little consultation before this announcement was made,” BCLNA said in a newsletter to members this month.

Potential impacts BCLNA flags include reduced early-morning light for field and landscape crews. Reduced visibility is always an issue in winter, and those issues will be exacerbated by the time change.

Since the move was not coordinated with Washington and Oregon, the province will be out of sync with those jurisdictions – key trading partners for the BC sector, due to the integrated nature of the Pacific Northwest’s horticulture sector – between November and March.

This is the leading reason why the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBOT) and other business groups have spoken out against BC’s unilateral move, noting that just 19% of respondents to a 2019 provincial consultation favoured going solo on the change. Government at the time promised to wait until neighbouring jurisdictions agreed to move, “to avoid any economic disruption and disadvantage.”

“The choice to change the time unilaterally will create an additional headache for businesses operating on both sides of the border,” GVBOT president and CEO Bridgitte Anderson says.

While the provincial consultation found that 92% of farmers favoured a permanent shift to Daylight Saving Time, Jack Bates of Tecarte Farms in Delta told Country Life in BC at the time he was ambivalent.

People will work with the light they’ve got, he noted, and the livestock wouldn’t care. But safety could be an issue, particularly with longer hours of darkness in the morning.

“On those dark, dreary days in December and into January, it might not be light until 9:30, so it might be dark when kids are going to school. It might be a safety issue,” he said. “There’s a reason why it changed, and everyone’s forgotten that.”