Trying to explain Daylight Saving Time (Yes, it ends again this Sunday)

Should we take action on daylight savings? Photo by JEAN LEVAC /POSTMEDIA

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Daylight Saving Time hits the “fall back” on the clock this Sunday at 2 a.m.

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So everyone in Ontario sets their clocks back one whole hour. That simple change of time that’s been going on widely since the First World War is said to give you an extra hour of sleep because you supposedly gain an hour — that’s the same hour you lost in the spring, when you set your clock an hour forward. Not everyone can sleep in, and not everyone relives that special back-and-forth hour.

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WHERE AND WHY DID IT ALL START?

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Well, the first known place to turn their clocks forward was in what’s now Thunder Bay around 1908, only they did it in July. It had nothing to do with war, but rather for an extra hour of daylight for recreation outdoors and an extra hour for farmers and railroad crews.

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Canada, the U.S. and Britain all later went with Daylight Saving Time to preserve power (yes, dirty old coal and fuel) during wartime. Natural light, after all, is free.

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And the countries at war, well, they wanted to put all that saved energy into their war factories. And who wouldn’t want an extra hour of daylight during a war — especially gardeners who historically reported a morale boost, not to mention the much-needed produce they grew. These were called war gardens.

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It should also be noted that daylight saving time during wartime was supposed to be temporary … but time keeps dragging on.

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SO WILL ONTARIO FINALLY END DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME?

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The short answer is they want to — and the Ford government has already passed a law saying time’s up. That was five years ago.

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The reality is that, no matter how soon they want to end it, the Ontario government is kind of at the mercy of others. They said so themselves.

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It’s unique legislation because it would come into effect only if the U.S. (specifically New York) and Quebec agreed to end it at the same time.

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Timing is everything, and this is arguably the worst time for Canada-U.S. relations, so there are no promises of if, let alone when.

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WHY CAN’T ONTARIO END IT ON ITS OWN?

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It would be a massive disruption not only in trade, but its interlocking power grid. This system, ranging from peak-hour use to the exchange of power between Ontario, Quebec and New York would be out of whack if operating on a different clock.