As the clock advances another hour, summer time It will be held for the last time in British Columbia on Sunday.

But now attention is turning to why other states keep changing their clocks.

“This is a collective action problem, and there is no incentive to relocate anywhere,” Peter Greif, a political scientist at McMaster University, said in an interview.

“Maybe it takes one place to move and it’s going to have an impact on other places to say, ‘Hey, the sky isn’t falling, maybe we should give it a try.'”

British Columbia Premier David Eby announced on Monday The state plans to introduce a permanent year-round system. summer timeThis means there will be no seasonal time changes in that part of Canada.

“If you change your watch twice a year, you’re going to run into all kinds of problems,” Eby said when announcing the new policy.

“Even if the clocks change, kids wake up at the same time. Even if the clocks change, dogs wake up at the same time. Parents can’t sleep, kids can’t sleep. And even people without children or parents are losing an hour of sleep… So what we’re seeing is more road accidents, more people getting sick, and a huge unnecessary impact on the lives of British Columbians.”

British Columbia has been working for years to end daylight saving time under former Premier John Horgan. tried many times Even if you do that, you won’t succeed.

In 2019, British Columbia passed legislation creating the Pacific Time Zone, where times remain the same year-round, with 93 per cent of the public showing support for permanent daylight saving time, following the most popular public consultation in British Columbia’s history.

Ontario Legislature The bill was passed in November 2020. This eliminates time changes and keeps the state permanently on daylight saving time.

However, the bill was dependent on the Quebec government and New York state passing similar laws.

In March 2022, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Ontario would “eventually” eliminate the biannual time change.

“I think eventually we’ll keep daylight saving time and be in line with the rest of North America,” he said at the time.

In Alberta, 50.2 per cent of Albertans voted in favor of keeping daylight saving time In the October 2021 local elections, the difference was just 2,834 votes.

But the Alberta government, led by Daniel Smith, says it is reconsidering the issue.

Officials said concerns raised at the time included the potential impact on airline schedules, professional sports and the possibility that Alberta could become an outlier if neighboring provinces maintained different time systems.

Not everyone believes the debate should be revived. Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said the issue had already been decided by voters and suggested the government focus on other priorities.

Global News reached out to the remaining states, and those that responded were adamant that nothing would change for now.

Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Nova Scotia all told Global News they have current plans to change how daylight saving time is implemented.

Ontario and Nova Scotia said in an email that regional collaboration is needed, with the former referring to the 2020 bill.

Quebec also indicated there would be no change, but said it was aware of Quebecers’ desire to end the change and was consulting with experts.

But Finance Minister Nate Horner said Tuesday it could be reconsidered, and that could change in Alberta.

“I think it’s better to wait until you hear all the facts,” he said. “Albertans really wanted to understand when we were going to change it (on the 2021 ballot) and why, so I think we need to have that conversation and look at the rationale for it, and maybe it’s coming our way.”

Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island did not respond publicly.

Rebecca Robillard, co-chair of the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium, said adjusting to changes in time is “a more complex problem than people realize.”

“This isn’t just about getting an hour of sleep, it actually disrupts the coordination between your body clock and the sun’s natural cycles,” she says. “This is very important because the body clock not only regulates our sleep cycles, but also most functions throughout the body and brain.”

Professor Robillard also said that this change, in turn, affects, among other things, “the timing of releasing different hormones, insulin, metabolism, and the way we regulate body temperature.”

“This is more than just a sleep issue. Because it involves our body clock and is involved in regulating various neurological functions throughout the body, we see negative effects such as increased sleepiness, mood swings, poor concentration, memory problems, increased incidence of stroke and heart attack, immune system complications, digestive and kidney problems, and even pregnancy complications,” she said.

But Patricia Lakin-Thomas, a biology professor at York University, said there are downsides to the decision to leave B.C.

“When we first announced it, everyone loved the idea. It’s great. It’s nice to have more light, but in the winter you just don’t like it,” she said.

“We also know that in addition to the inconvenience and danger of being out in the dark, we need morning light, because the circadian clock that controls our brain clocks is reset by light coming in through our eyes. Most people’s clocks run a little slower, taking a little longer than 24 hours. So what we need is morning light to reset our clocks, move them a little bit faster, and get us back on a 24-hour cycle.”

Dr. Joanna von Isariyawongse, a professor of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh, told Global News that maintaining standard time over daylight saving time is a healthy choice.

“The worst thing we can do is keep switching twice a year. And if we pick one time and stay there, the medical consensus is clear: We need to keep our clocks in standard time forever,” von Isariawonse said.

“If our body clock is aligned with the sun, we’ll want the sun to be overhead at noon, because we’ll have better health outcomes and better safety outcomes.”