As the seasons change and we get ready to set the clocks back one hour on November 1st, there is a private members bill in the works that may move Ontario to Daylight Savings Time permanently.
The Time Amendment Act would clear the road for Ontario to end the bi-annual practice of changing our clocks.
Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Jeremy Roberts introduced the private members bill which passed second reading at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.
“I see this as an important first step towards fulfilling the public’s overwhelming desire to end this out-of-date practice,” said Roberts in a statement.
Roberts also pointed out academic studies from around the world that have suggested the bi-annual change can cause serious negative effects, such as increased depression rates, heart attacks, strokes, and higher numbers of fatal collisions.
But If passed, Roberts said the bill would give the Ontario’s Attorney General (AG) the discretion of when to make the permanent change and that the AG would only bring this act into motion in coordination with the neighbouring jurisdictions, including New York and Quebec. A date for the third reading of the bill has not yet been released.
Daylight Saving Time started in Ontario in 1918. This year, it ends on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 2 a.m.
Saskatchewan is the only province that currently follows standard time year round. In March, Yukon made the switch to daylight time permanent.
In 2019, the B.C. Government passed legislation that outlined plans to switch to a “Pacific Standard Time,” alongside Washington state, Oregon and California.
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