Kenora residents applaud ‘fantastic’ move to permanent daylight time

Whether it’s watching NHL games, appointment scheduling or just less confusion, some residents of Kenora, Ont. say permanent daylight saving time is a “fantastic” move.

Scott Green, owner and operator of Lake of the Woods Marina and Service Centre, said Wednesday he loves that the community will stick to the same time zone as Manitoba going forward.

“I love it as long as we’re still matching with Winnipeg and Manitoba,” he said in an interview with Global News.

Green added his marina also has a restaurant and bar that hosts Winnipeg Jets watch parties during the season. He said with the permanent change, watching the game “just times out better.” He added it will also make it easier if travelling to Winnipeg for a Jets game.

The Ontario government announced Tuesday that northwestern Ontario communities west of the 90th meridian would stop the twice-annual clock changes and stay on daylight time year-round.

Kenora, along with communities like Dryden, Sioux Lookout and Pickle Lake, currently observe Central daylight time, the same time zone observed by Manitoba.

That means come Nov. 1, it will be the same time in Manitoba and all of Ontario. But when the clocks tick forward an hour in March for much of Ontario, people in the province’s northwest and Manitoba won’t have to adjust their time.

Tuesday’s announcement from the Ontario government came after what MPP for Kenora-Rainy River Greg Rickford says was “unanimous consensus” across the region.

“Through the collective efforts of communities and First Nations across the northwest, we’ve led a process to build consensus the right way, with detailed and nuanced considerations,” said Rickford in a news release on Tuesday.

Several communities conducted surveys from residents to see if there was support for a change.

In Kenora, about 6,000 of its approximately 16,000 residents responded to the survey and Mayor Andrew Poirier told Global News 93 per cent supported keeping daylight time.

“So we listened to the people of Kenora and we stand by what we did as a council to pass a resolution that we would look at aligning ourselves with Manitoba, and so did lots of our neighbouring communities, which was very important in this whole process,” Poirier said Wednesday.

The mayor said though in Ontario, Kenora is “much more linked” to Winnipeg or Manitoba.

He said whether during much of summer or winter, travel between the Ontario and Manitoba communities is “like the 401” highway that runs through Toronto.

“That’s how much economic activity, tourism, visiting back and forth occurs between the two jurisdictions,” Poirier said.

But it’s not just economic activity, it’s also logistical aspects like medical appointments or tourist bookings.

“So when somebody makes an appointment for a boat taxi or a tour and we are on the same page for a time frame (or) often Zoom meetings if people are calling out of Toronto you have to definitely make sure that you’re on the same time,” said Green. “So this will really make things efficient and a lot easier for bookings and communications.”

‘Time zone enclaves’

Northwestern Ontario is not the only region to observe a different timezone than the majority of the province it is in.

The Kootenay Region in B.C. is on Mountain Time, Nunavik and Lower North Shore in Quebec are on Atlantic Time and parts of Labrador are also on Atlantic Time unlike the rest of Newfoundland and southeastern Labrador.

Golden, B.C., Coun. Wesley Routley said his community last month originally planned to shift to Mountain standard time permanently on Nov. 1, but after hearing from hundreds of residents, council reversed course.

He said people felt they wanted to be aligned with other communities like the Regional District of East Kootenay to the south and other communities on Mountain daylight time.

“We have residents that have to make that drive [to Cranbrook hospital] for dialysis and that get referred to Cranbrook for other care and so that was a real risk,” Routley said.

He added a large share of visitors to Golden are from Alberta, so it could limit confusion for people visiting the community.

British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba have each announced they will remain on daylight time starting Nov. 1, with Saskatchewan having observed central standard time year-round. The remaining provinces have said in recent months no changes are expected though discussions and analyses are ongoing.