the great daylight debate

daylight savings. for most canadians (save saskers), it's as normal as poutine: no one really knows why we have it but it's so darn good, we just eat it up. the clocks jump forward and we hate that we lose that hour of sleep; they fall back and we love that we get an extra hour of sleep. it's a part of our lives and we accept it.

alas, 'tis not so in WA. when we first moved here, we were informed that WA had just started a 3 year trial of daylight savings, after which there would be a vote to accept or reject it. it seemed odd to us, for obvious reasons. "why wouldn't you have daylight savings" we thought.

at first, we laughed out-loud at the "no" proponents. many people argued ridiculous things like "the curtains would fade faster" or "the cows milk will go sour" or "the kids will be coming home at the hottest time of day" (hello, we live in WA. the hottest time of day is all day!). but over time, we started to understand their side. "we can't exercise in the morning in the dark and it's too hot in the afternoon", "does it need to be bright until 10pm?"

we sympathized with the yes-ers however. they claimed more time for families to be outside after work, more time at the beach outside of peak hours, more ability for workers to exercise after work. but then we didn't really understand when they argued that being 3 hours behind sydney for 6 months is not-acceptable in business (isn't vancouver always 3 hours behind toronto?).

it has been the subject of heated discussions in WA for the past 3 years, though possibly longer as this is the 4th time the referendum has been attempted. people ask if you support daylight savings. the answer is never right: say no, and you're old fashioned, say yes and you're a hippy. newspapers slanted stories, politicians got involved (though had no real pull) and if you slandered one-way or another, you may have well been attacking people personally about all of their beliefs.

based on the intensity of the debate, i assumed that WA was the only state not observing daylight savings but after doing some research, i discovered that it's not the case: queensland and the northern territory don't either (3 out of 7). it also turns out that perth has the most average sunshine daily- 10.25hrs (compared to 6-7 in sydney) with sun setting around 8pm in summer and 5:30pm in winter (no daylight savings).

having experienced the full 3 years of the debate, i have to say that i've shifted in my thoughts and honestly think that it's a difficult decision. as a morning person, i like the mornings to be bright. but as a worker who doesn't finish until 8pm most nights, i appreciate the lighter evenings. not that my opinion counts- i have no rights to vote here anyhow.

WA went to the polls yesterday- a NO vote for the 4th time in as many decades, much to the chagrin of my friends. good effort WA, but seems that the majority of the state isn't ready for change.

xo