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Citizenry should have been engaged on time decision
Letter to the Editor
As most British Columbian citizens know, in 2019 the B.C. government held a public engagement where 93% of respondents supported year-round daylight savings time.
When the province decided to move forward with this initiative two weeks ago, it gave the East Kootenay the option to decide on their own what to do with our time zone since we are in a unique geographic area and have been on Mountain Time for over a hundred years.
When this issue came before the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) board this past week, their own CAO Shawn Tomlin recommended that the RDEK coordinate a regional survey to seek opinion about time zone observance. He also suggested that the board postpone any decision until more clarity on this issue can be established.
So what did the RDEK board decide to do? Disregard any advice, vote immediately on the matter and let a decision that affects the literal minutes of our day be decided by one person’s individual preference (the vote was split eight to seven).
Even if you support this time change, you should nevertheless be appalled by the lack of due diligence and democratic process this elected board has demonstrated.
This wasn’t a vote on road access in Radium or the hours of the transfer station in Fernie. This affects every minute of every citizens’ day. The board should be ashamed of themselves.
If it wasn’t terrible enough to disregard the results of the 2019 provincial public engagement on this issue, they didn’t even have the decency to take a few months to find out what East Kootenay constituents might actually want. In a world where democracy seems at risk in every corner of the globe, I am furious that the Regional District of East Kootenay would refuse to engage with its citizens and determine the majority of people’s opinion on this matter.
Instead, a time change has been forced upon us based on the whims of 15 individuals. Shame on you, RDEK. Do the right thing by your constituents and at least provide an opportunity for all of our voices to be heard on this very important issue.
Courtney Magro,
Cranbrook
