P.E.I. will join a growing list of jurisdictions across the country taking a look at time.
Specifically, the wisdom of turning our clocks ahead by an hour every spring and turning them back again in the fall. Montague-Kilmuir MLA Cory Deagle served notice in the legislature that he would table a private member's bill that would move the province to Daylight Saving Time year-round. The government backbencher said he plans to send it to a legislative committee for input before bringing it back in the fall session for debate.
Liberal MLA Hal Perry then picked up the ball, asking Tory Premier Dennis King if he would consider looking at the idea. The premier quite rightly said it would have to be a regional initiative.
Having P.E.I. in a different time zone than Nova Scotia and New Brunswick is quite frankly ridiculous. There are any number of regional initiatives that would be hampered by the need to juggle two time zones for part of the year (three if it is an Atlantic initiative that involves Newfoundland and Labrador).
The Ontario legislature has passed a bill to implement Daylight Saving Time year-round, providing their closest neighbours in Quebec and New York state follow suit. Yukon Territory also moved in that direction after British Columbia passed a similar bill.
In response to a question from the Tignish-Palmer Road MLA, the premier said he has yet to have an in-depth discussion on the issue with his Maritimes counterparts. However, he quickly pointed out that is not because he is against the idea. He committed to having those discussions before the end of the calendar year.
It could be argued that the issue should not be top of mind during a pandemic. However, it does impact every Islander, something that can't be said for the prolonged debate on the sitting hours of the legislature that was a dominant feature of what was supposed to be an "emergency" session (it later morphed into a full sitting) during the summer.
The day after the exchange Perry had with the premier, a fellow West Prince MLA shared a social media post that leaves no doubt where he stands. Posting a picture of almost total darkness with only the outline of some trees visible, Robert Henderson noted: "This is what it would look like waiting for the school bus in December with Daylight savings time year-round" in his constituency of O’Leary Inverness.
All aspects of the issue should be explored by the legislature and having the measure promoted as a private member's bill rather than a government measure is a good idea. It will allow cabinet ministers a free vote on the issue since it is not in the category of government business.
Members of all three parties will likely have differences of opinions on this issue, as will Islanders in general. Putting the issue first to a legislature committee and then to what hopefully will be a full debate in the legislature is the best way to ensure as many voices as possible are heard.
While it is unlikely the issue will be settled when the clocks go ahead but there is a distinct possibility we will never have to turn back time again.
Andy Walker is an Island-based political commentator. His column appears every week in the Journal Pioneer.
