East Kootenay chooses daylight time year-round

The Regional District of East Kootenay Board has voted 12-3 to stop changing clocks twice a year and remain on Mountain Daylight Time year-round.

Under the decision, the RDEK would remain at UTC-6 instead of turning clocks back in November. That would keep the region aligned with Alberta and one hour ahead of most of B.C., which is moving to permanent Pacific Time at UTC-7.

The vote followed a non-binding regional survey that received 14,345 responses.

Of those who responded, 89 per cent supported ending the semi-annual time changes. When asked which time should be observed year-round, 66 per cent chose Mountain Daylight Time and 34 per cent preferred Mountain Standard Time.

“This issue has generated an incredible amount of passion and engagement, and that speaks to how much it matters to people,” RDEK Board Chair Rob Gay said.

“We had an exceptional level of participation in the survey, and the results were clear. Directors also took time to do their own research and hear directly from residents.”

The decision marks the latest turn in a debate that began after the province announced in March that most of B.C. would stop changing clocks and remain on permanent Pacific Time.

Mountain Time communities in the East Kootenay and Golden areas were excluded from the provincial change and left to determine their own time observance.

On March 13, the RDEK Board voted 8-7 to adopt Mountain Standard Time year-round, which would have aligned the region with the rest of B.C. The Board rescinded that decision by a 13-2 vote in April after receiving significant public feedback, including concerns about the lack of public consultation.

That led to the regional survey, which ran from July 3 to Aug. 3.

Gay said the Board considered a range of potential impacts before making its latest decision.

“The preferences expressed by the public carried significant weight in that decision,” he said.

Most phones and computers in the region are currently set to Edmonton time. RDEK staff have been advised that those devices should continue updating correctly under permanent Mountain Daylight Time without residents having to change their time-zone settings.

The RDEK will notify the province of its decision and request any implementation steps that may be required.

The decision will also be shared with RDEK member municipalities and First Nations. The Town of Golden and Columbia Shuswap Regional District Electoral Area A, which participated in the survey, will determine their time observance independently.