Guest Column by Darrell Dunn, Publisher, The Weekly Bean.
Ah yes, the twice-yearly ritual where we collectively pretend that changing the clocks will somehow bend the laws of physics and improve our lives. As British Columbia edges toward abandoning the seasonal clock shuffle, many of us are left asking: why are we still doing this? Saskatchewan stopped years ago. Who thought this was a good idea? And can we please stop?
Where Did This Nonsense Start?
Daylight Saving Time (DST) is often lazily blamed on Benjamin Franklin, who in 1784 jokingly suggested that Parisians could save candles by waking up earlier. It was satire. A joke.
An 18th-century Onion article. Yet here we are.
The modern version was pushed during the First World War by Germany in 1916 to
conserve coal. Because nothing says “military efficiency” like fiddling with wristwatches.
Shortly after, the United States adopted it, also in the name of saving fuel. The idea resurfaced during the Second World War and then permanently embedded itself in North American bureaucracy with the Uniform Time Act of 1966.
So to summarize: we are still adjusting our microwaves in 2026 because of trench warfare and coal shortages. Splendid. Brilliant!
The Promised Benefits (That Never Quite Showed Up)
The theory was simple: more evening daylight means less electricity use. Except modern studies show energy savings are minimal to nonexistent. Air conditioners run longer in the extended daylight. People drive more. Lighting is more efficient now anyway. We are not, in fact, huddled around whale oil lamps.
Retailers like it because we’ll apparently shop more if it’s light out. Golf courses like it. Barbecues like it. Meanwhile, the rest of us like sleep.
There are Negative Impacts (Brace Yourself):
Sleep Deprivation as Public Policy: Twice a year, millions of people lose an hour of sleep. That might sound trivial—until you remember that humans are delicate biological machines, not programmable thermostats. Studies consistently show spikes in heart attacks, strokes, and workplace injuries in the days following the spring shift. Car accidents increase.
Productivity drops. Congratulations, we traded cardiovascular health for a slightly brighter patio dinner.
Children and Farmers Revolt Quietly:
Contrary to popular myth, farmers hate it. Cows do not care what your iPhone says. They want to be milked on cow time. Kids, meanwhile, become sleep-deprived gremlins. Parents become referees in domestic circadian warfare.
It’s Confusing:
Even in our hyper-connected world, people miss flights, show up early (or late) for meetings, and question whether their oven clock is lying. And heaven help you if you’re scheduling across provinces or states that opted out. Saskatchewan, for instance, refuses to participate. Arizona mostly refuses. Parts of Australia refuse. We’ve created a temporal patchwork quilt for absolutely no reason.
The Myth of Energy Savings:
If this started as a wartime conservation strategy, perhaps it made sense when factories were coal-powered and evenings were lit by incandescent bulbs. But today? The savings are statistically unimpressive. Some studies suggest we may even use more energy overall.
The real question, then, is this:
Why, in an era where we can livestream a hockey game from across the planet and order groceries from a phone, are we still manually adjusting wall clocks like it’s 1916?
We are not outsmarting the sun. The sun is not impressed. It rises and sets according to celestial mechanics, not parliamentary motion. Changing the clock is the civic equivalent of moving the goalposts and declaring victory.
If British Columbia finally ditches the time change, it won’t plunge society into chaos. It won’t cause crops to wither. It will simply mean we stop pretending that sleep is optional and that circadian rhythms are suggestions.
Let’s be honest:
The twice-annual time change exists mostly because we are used to it. It is tradition, like fruitcake or dial-up internet—lingering long after its usefulness has expired.
So yes, abolish it. End the ritual. Let the clocks stay put. Let the cows relax. Let the children sleep. Let adults stop Googling “is it daylight savings or daylight saving?” twice a year.
The sun will continue doing its job. We should probably let it.
Read more: Guest Column – Why say thank-you
