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Kamloops group seeks referendum on time change

Mar 7, 2018 | 1:21 PM

KAMLOOPS — With Daylight Saving Time just days away a Kamloops group is confident its push to end the practice is nearing fruition.

Bob Dieno, co-founder of ‘STOP the Time Change,’ has been pushing governments to axe the time change for three years, but says a recent meeting with B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth and other events have him feeling more confident than ever.

“It’s been discussed in the cabinet. But what truly came out of the meeting was the NDP goverment would like to do public consultation and we have asked and they have asked to see a referendum on this,” he says.

“Today we’ve put a message on our Facebook page asking people to copy and paste a letter, put your name into it and send it off to your MLA, the mayor and the premier to try and get a referendum for the municipal election that comes up in October.”

Dieno says he’d personally like to see time stay on Daylight Saving Time but notes the ask right now is to simply stop the time change. He says a vote in the Florida senate this week to stay on Daylight Saving Time has given him even more hope, noting “this is happening everywhere.”

Dieno says he’d like to do away with the time change for a number of reasons.

“One, it’s not needed anymore. It was started back in war time so people could work longer at night. It had nothing to do with farmers, nothing to do with saving energy and then you look at all the health stats. It’s bad for our bodies by increasing heart attacks and less sleep leads to up to 30 per cent more car accidents in the days following the spring time change.”