The East Kootenay will no longer change its clocks after the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) Board voted to end the twice-yearly time change and observe Mountain Daylight Saving Time year-round.
The move comes following a public non-binding survey for RDEK Directors to receive input on the matter.
“This issue has garnered an incredible amount of passion and engagement from the public and that speaks to how much it matters to people,” says Rob Gay, Board Chair, RDEK.
“We had extensive participation in the survey, and the results were very clear. Over the past few months, the Directors have also done their own research and engagement with residents.”
More than 14,000 people participated in the survey and showed a strong majority with 89 per cent voicing they would like to stop the semi-annual time changes and stay on a single time all year.
A further, 66 per cent of respondents indicated a preference for Daylight Saving Time.
“The Board had a thorough discussion considering many different potential impacts of the decision and certainly gave significant weight to the preferences expressed by the public,” adds Gay.
At its Board meeting today (August 14), the Board voted 12-3 in favour of adopting permanent Mountain Daylight Saving Time.
That means the clocks will not be changing in November and will remain on the same time they are currently on.
The RDEK says they will share its decision with neighbouring local governments in Golden and Columbia Shuswap Regional District (Area A) as they will need to independently determine their time observance.
On March 2, the Province announced the end of time changes for most of BC but left areas like the East Kootenay that are in the Mountain Time Zone to decide for themselves.
In early discussions, the municipalities in the East Kootenay – which are all represented at the regional Board table – expressed a desire to work collaboratively to ensure consistency within the region.
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