Creston Mayor Arnold DeBoon calls B.C.’s decision to abolish the twice-a-year time change a “positive move,” though for Creston residents it won’t change much.
Creston, along with communities such as Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, opted out of daylight saving time years ago after a provincial referendum.
“We have not changed our clocks ever. We’ve always stayed on the same time zone,” said DeBoon.
He said residents have long had to juggle time differences when crossing into the West or East Kootenay, or scheduling appointments in Nelson and Trail.
“When we make medical appointments in other parts of the Kootenays, we always have to be cognizant of what time it is there,” said DeBoon.
“The confusion has always been when the clocks are changed twice a year. So we will all know from that point onwards that we’ll be on the same time as the West Kootenay.”
While Creston enjoys early sunrises and slightly shorter evenings in the summer, the province-wide move is mostly about convenience elsewhere.
“In essence, there’s no place on earth that actually gets more time just by changing the clocks. It’s how daylight is perceived to be managed. And in Creston, we’ve always accepted the way daylight has been managed here. The change affects other areas much more than our own area,” said DeBoon.
He added that the local benefits are also more practical than dramatic, with less hassle coordinating schedules with neighbouring towns and no more changing clocks when crossing the Kootenay Lake Ferry.
“One of the inconveniences has been when you cross the Kootenay Lake Ferry up at Kootenay Bay, you have to change the time on your watch just to get across the lake. Not having to do that anymore will be a convenient matter,” said DeBoon.
He noted that the provincial decision reflects what British Columbians have long wanted.
“There was a very strong feeling that people didn’t want to change the clocks anymore and that this was more of an inconvenience than a convenience. I think it was done for the right reasons with the approval of the vast majority of British Columbians,” said DeBoon.
Even so, some quirks of B.C.’s time zones will remain, even after the change.
“There’s still going to be a slight bit of confusion and inconvenience because for part of the year we will be on Cranbrook time and part of the year we won’t. Unfortunately, that won’t change, and it has more to do with where we’re situated in these time zones than anything else,” said DeBoon.
Still, for a town that has never “sprung forward or fallen back,” DeBoon said the province’s move is a welcome step toward stability.
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