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Is Manitoba next?

New Brunswick to join U.S. in Daylight Savings Time switch

WILLIAM WOLFE-WYLIE

CUP ATLANTIC BUREAU CHIEF

SACKVILLE, N.B. (CUP) -- More Canadians will be getting an extra hour of daylight as more and more provinces move to extend Daylight Savings Time by one month. The province of New Brunswick announced its intention to join the U.S., along with several other provinces, in extending Daylight Savings Time from the beginning of March until the beginning of November.

Prince Edward Island, Ontario and Quebec have already announced that they will take part in the shift.

Currently, the Time Definition Act states that Daylight Savings Time is between the last Sunday in October and the first Sunday in April. The new bill would see New Brunswickers move their clocks ahead on the second Sunday in March and “fall back” on the first Sunday in November. The bill will come into effect in 2007.

But contrary to the environmental reasons cited for the shift in the U.S., New Brunswick is moving ahead with the change for more economic reasons.

“Our first concerns are due to our trading relationship with the United States,” said Mathieu Picard, a spokesman with the Office of the Premier.

The U.S. introduced the change in August as part of an energy bill designed to cut the energy consumption throughout the U.S. With more sunlight in the evenings, they argued, there would be less need for electric lighting in those peak hours.

The rest of the provinces are still looking at the possible impacts of the shift. With major trade relations south of the border and between provinces, however, it is likely that more provinces will sign on to the switch.

The province of Nova Scotia is currently examining the impacts of a change in Daylight Savings Time. But since Nova Scotia premier John Hamm is retiring from office next month, no announcements will be made until after the leadership convention scheduled for February 11, 2006.

Saskatchewan is the only Canadian province that remains on Standard Time all year round.