Time to spring forward this weekend

For now, Horgan says B.C. is “springing forward” on Sunday. The clocks change to one hour ahead at 2 a.m.

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B.C. Premier John Horgan said Friday he hopes the annual changes between daylight and standard time will be scrapped by fall, but the government is still waiting on three U.S. states to go along with the plan.

He said being on the same time as B.C.’s closest southern neighbours is important for many industries, for example Hollywood North, which benefits from being in the same time zone as California.

“We’ve heard loudly and clearly from industry, and others, that we should be in line with our southern partners. We have such extraordinary economic relationships,” he said, during a news conference in Richmond on Friday.

“Some of the advantages of being in the same time zone as Hollywood means that our burgeoning film and television industry, which is making record productions at this point, needs to be on the same wavelength.”

Horgan believes there would be economic harm if B.C. scrapped the time change before Washington state, Oregon and California.

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At 2 a.m. Sunday, the clocks “spring” forward an hour, resulting in more daylight in the evening.

In 2019, the B.C. government introduced legislation to ditch the seasonal time adjustment, but said it’ll only do it once Washington state, Oregon and California do the same.

Those states have passed bills that would keep them on daylight time year-round, but they need approval of the U.S. Congress, which was preoccupied with the pandemic and election in 2020.

“I am hopeful we will make progress before the fall when we would be scheduled to fall backwards,” said Horgan on Friday.

“For now my message to British Columbians is we are springing forward, and change your batteries in your smoke alarms and enjoy the spring and summer ahead.”

Some U.S. senators have introduced bills such as the Sunshine Protection Act and Daylight Act to make daylight time permanent, but those seem to have stalled.

With files from Cheryl Chan