Set your watches, stare at your phones, and figure out how to reset your car clocks – daylight savings time is about to come to an end in Manitoba.
In the early morning of Nov. 3, Manitoba will “fall back” an hour and align with its provincial neighbour to the west for a few months.
Many jurisdictions are debating the merits of moving clocks twice a year, with some studies showing dangerous effects.
Former Manitoba MLA Cliff Graydon proposed provincial legislation that would end the practice of moving our clocks backwards and forwards with the seasons. However, Graydon’s private members bill was shot down 34-5 back in April, keeping Manitoba on the standard system.
Proponents of a daylight savings time point to an hour extra of light every day for months on end. A Miami (Ohio) University study from 2014 showed a 6.3 per cent increase in fatal car accidents in the week following a time change. A 2009 study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology showed an increase in the number and severity of workplace accidents in mines on the Monday following the time change.
Manitoba was one of the first places in Canada to adopt the practice of daylight savings time. Although Creighton and Denare Beach both use Manitoba time, it is officially part of Saskatchewan’s time zone.
