My fellow Thunder Bay-ites would agree; Daylight Savings Time is just plain annoying. The annoyance factor is not the only issue, however. The time shift, in effect, causes the human body to experience the equivalent of jet lag, without travelling to another time zone. Research shows that this disrupts our circadian rhythms and leads to sleepiness and inattention, decreased productivity, and even spikes in heart attacks, workplace accidents and auto accidents immediately following the time changes.

The number of hours of daylight or lack of is fixed and cannot be changed. What can be changed is the policy that requires springing forward and falling back — losing an hour of sleep in March to “save” an hour of sunlight for the next eight months, only to switch back again in autumn!? Atikokan is already ahead of us in the choice to forego DST altogether. The system is outdated and we could easily do away with it. Why not today!