It’s about time.

The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) board of directors today voted to cease semi-annual time changes and for the region to remain permanently on Mountain Daylight Time (MDT).

The vote followed a recent regional survey that showed nearly twice as many respondents preferred Daylight Time in favour of Mountain Standard Time (MST).

Other options for the board to consider were the RDEK ceasing semi-annual time changes and remain permanently on Mountain Standard Time or continue with semi-annual time changes, alternating between Mountain Standard Time and Mountain Daylight Time.

Three board members voted against the MDT option: District of Invermere Mayor Al Miller, City of Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Price and Electoral Area G Director Roberta Schneider.

Village of Radium Hot Springs Mayor Mike Gray said the MDT decision wasn’t made lightly and can be re-visited in the future if necessary.

“I really appreciated the debate and listened to evidence on both sides. This board behaved as I’d expect a board to behave… we’ve heard the public and the evidence,” he said.

City of Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick said he is comfortable with the decision, noting all arguments have been heard and one constant stood out.

“Everyone is unanimous about not changing time anymore,” he said.

Board chair and Electoral Area C director Rob Gay pointed out the board’s vote reflected the public survey, with two-thirds of directors favouring MDT and one-third leaning MST.

RDEK chief administrative officer Shawn Tomlin summarized the July 3 to August 3 survey results in an August 6 report to the board.

“Of those responses, 91% were full-time residents or businesses in the area, seven per cent were part-time residents or non-resident property owners, and 1.4% employees who live outside the area but work in the area.

“Overall, the survey showed a strong majority (89%) or respondents would like to stop the semi-annual time changes and stay on a single time all year. Choosing which time to observe was somewhat more divided, but there was a significant majority with nearly twice as many respondents preferring Daylight Time, a split of 66% preferring that option vs 34% in favour of Standard Time,” Tomlin said.

“When asked the reasons for their preferences, the highest ranked responses were ‘Better for mental or physical health and well-being’ and ‘Better use of daylight in the evening,’ followed by ‘Avoids the disruption of changing clocks.’ For respondents preferring daylight time, the highest ranked reason was ‘Better use of daylight in the evening,’ and for those preferring standard time, the highest ranked reason was ‘Alignment with the rest of B.C.’”

The survey results have been shared with municipal and First Nations CAOs. The Town of Golden and CSRD Electoral Area A will need to independently decide the time observance in their area, Tomlin added.

e-KNOW file photo

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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