Daylights Savings Time ends at 2am Sunday morning

This is the weekend we return to standard time. On Sunday, November 6th at 2am, Manitobans will gain one hour and the actual time will be 1am. Have you ever questioned why we even have Daylight Saving Time or better yet, how did it all start?

Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen has done some research into the matter. "It seemed to have started in 1915 in Germany during the first world war," says Goertzen. "The Germans were trying to conserve energy during the war time and many other countries followed immediately after; Britain, Canada, other countries who were involved in the conflict moved their time back to Daylight Saving Time to conserve energy."

Whether we spring ahead in March or fall back in November, the move has an impact on everything. And because the time change occurs on a Sunday morning, Churches are usually the first to notice that impact.

Pastor Mike Kehler of Steinbach's Mennonite Brethren Church says "when it comes to spring, as obviously it's spring ahead, then we have people that seem to want to sleep in a little bit longer and show up either during the service or show up right at the end which is not uncommon at all." In fact, Kehler says it's not uncommon to have ten or twelve empty pews that Sunday. Then in fall, Kehler says "surprisingly they show up on time and we can actually start the service on time."

The tradition of changing clocks in Manitoba started in roughly 1916. It's the provincial government who decides whether or not to continue with this act. There's been much debate over whether turning our clocks has any negative effects on our health. But John Stinson of South Eastman Health says "there's not any real research or evidence to suggest that there's any significant health effects for changing the clocks. I mean, I do think that people who suffer from the seasonal affective disorder, it's just winter time. The Northern Hemisphere is further away from the sun and that's going to cause a problem, but it doesn't really have to do with the clocks changing."

But don't think humans are the only ones that notice the change. "When it comes to schedules, cows are really set in their way," says Ted Laing of Laingspring Farms. "They like things to be done on time and when they should be done." Laing says "on our dairy farm we milk thirteen hours and eleven hours apart. And for us what we do is in the falltime we switch our clocks back in the afternoon so the cows gain an hour in the afternoon, so that pushes it to twelve hours and then coming into the morning time they don't have to wait an extra hour to milk. So they keep their same schedule there. And then in the springtime what we do is we will switch our clocks after our evening milking time, pushing them forward, therefore the cows again don't have to wait an extra hour or lose an extra hour as milking goes on."

Just a reminder, Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday at 2am. If you're like most people you'll change your clocks already Saturday night before going to bed. If not, well you may receive a painful reminder Sunday morning when you arrive at Church, an hour early.