Open letter to Premier John Horgan:
I applaud your desire to stop the time changes between standard time and daylight savings time.
I disagree with the idea I have heard of switching to continuous daylight savings time for some simple reasons. Children going to school in the dark is the main one.
The northern half of the province receives very little benefit, if any, from daylight savings time.
In June in Prince George, we have 17 hours of full daylight and 45 minutes of dawn twilight and 45 minutes of dusk twilight.
Staying on daylight savings time in the winter would result in our children going to school in the dark for two months. That is just too unsafe. Sunrise in Prince George on Dec. 20 is 8:27 a.m. on Pacific standard time.
Victoria doesn't do that much better. Sunrise for the depth of winter in Victoria is a few minutes after 8 a.m. on Pacific standard time. On Pacific daylight savings time, sunrise in Victoria would be after 9 a.m. in the same winter period.
Therefore we need to scrap daylight savings time and stay with standard time.
The argument that we need to be on the same time as our American neighbours just doesn't work. If we can cope with the self appointed centre of the universe being three hours different, we can certainly cope with one hour difference to our neighbors.
To summarize Mr. Premier, I support doing away with the time change. However we need to stay on standard time, not daylight savings time.
Neil Robertson,
Prince George
