Thursday, March 28, 2024

A record-breaking number of people took survey on BC’s Daylight Saving Time

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A record-breaking number of British Columbians voiced their opinions on daylight saving time during a provincial survey on the practice, which wrapped up last week.

In total, a whopping 223,273 residents responded to the survey, which asked if the province should continue to conduct the daylight saving time practice every year.

See also: BC Hydro says most British Columbians aren’t sure why Daylight Saving exists

That number exceeds the total responses received in recent provincial surveys, like the BC Cannabis Engagement questionnaire, which only garnered 48,151 online responses in its 5 week run.

In fact, more people from the Vancouver Island region responded to the daylight saving time survey than the entire province did when asked about cannabis regulation.

The top five participants of the survey by region are as follows:

  1. Lower Mainland: 98,549
  2. Vancouver Island and South Coast/Sunshine Coast: 62,386
  3. Thompson-Okanagan: 33,583
  4. Kootenays: 12,209
  5. Cariboo: 7,326

“It’s clear that the people of B.C. welcomed the opportunity to provide input on this important issue,” said Premier John Horgan in a statement.

“Daylight saving time is a practice that impacts everyone, and I’m pleased so many people took the time to share their views about the best direction for our province moving forward.”

The province is expected to release a summary report of the survey this summer, and will use the results to make a decision on daylight saving time based on the outcomes of northwest american states, like Washington and Oregon.

A change of tune from last year

In September 2018, municipal leaders held a vote to end daylight saving in the province.

See also: BC municipal leaders vote to end Daylight Saving Time

The resolution was ultimately struck down, but the idea has maintained traction since then.

At the time, the BC government said that Daylight Saving Time was maintained to avoid scheduling conflicts between the province and trading partners in the Northwestern US.

However, since then, legislators in California, Oregon, and Washington have proposed bills to end the bi-annual time change.

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Adam Chan
Former Staff Writer at Victoria Buzz.

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