EDITORIAL – Maybe Thompson-Nicola should exit time change all on its own

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

SO, COMING TO YOU an hour sooner than last week.

Yep, we’re into Daylight Saving Time again. Was the change really all that tough?

Each and every year, the whiners and complainers emerge to sing the blues about having to spring forward. As if we’ve all been living in some kind of time warp hell since 1908 when Thunder Bay pioneered DST in Canada.

A few years later, Regina joined in, and then others. Though most of B.C. observes DST, the Peace River Regional District uses only Mountain Time.

Some other parts of the country ignore the time change as well. So what’s the big deal?

To listen to Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone in the Legislature as the weekend approached, you’d think it was the biggest issue since Harry and Meghan moved to California.

“Another rude and cruel awakening,” Stone called it, suggesting Premier David Eby was “all talk and big promises.”

Maybe it was just a slow day in Question Period but I suspect Stone also saw a golden opportunity to practice his puns, which he Liberally sprinkled throughout his remarks, talking about Eby being “all talk and no clock,” and failing to spring forward, telling him to “wake up and smell the coffee” and deliver “real change” instead of “sleeping on the job.”

Nothing wrong with a little fun in the Ledge, and the light-heartedness of the discussion reflects the unimportance of it. The question arises, why didn’t the BC Liberals do something about it when they had the chance?

The answer, of course, is that B.C. is waiting for its neighbours to the north and south to go first. But if it’s so important, why wait?

And maybe we shouldn’t wait for Victoria to make a move, either. If the Peace River RD can do it, why can’t Kamloops and the Thompson-Nicola do it on their own?

Or, we could just stop complaining about it.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops, alternate TNRD director and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.