British Columbia time plebiscite, 1972

The British Columbia time referendum, 1972 was a referendum held in British Columbia on August 30, 1972, simultaneously with a general election. The actual referendum only took place in four electoral districts and part of a fifth, all located in the northeast or southeast parts of the province. The purpose of the vote was to determine which areas favoured following Mountain Time rather than Pacific Time and whether to follow daylight saving time or not. All areas chose to follow Mountain Time.

Lead-up

The referendum was the result of events in Alberta where, in 1971, Albertans voted to enact daylight saving time. Areas in the Peace River Country and Southeast were economically tied to Alberta, and hence were also on Mountain Time.^[1]

The question was:

"Are you in favour of Pacific Standard time, including Pacific Daylight Saving time, as it is applicable now throughout the province?"^[2]

Results

Only four ridings and part of a fifth took part in the referendum. The two ridings in the northeastern part of the province were North Peace River and South Peace River. The two ridings in the southeastern part were Columbia River and Kootenay. Residents of Nelson-Creston east of an imaginary line running through Kootenay Lake and the Kootenay River that bisected that riding also took part.^[2]

Aftermath

The result of the referendum was Mountain Time being used instead of Pacific Time in places that rejected Pacific Time (which had been province-wide).^[2] Hence, the boundary between time zones in British Columbia ended up being different from the provincial boundary.^[3][4]

The northeast is on Mountain Standard Time year-round, without daylight saving time. In practice, this means that time there is identical with Alberta's in the winter and the rest of BC's in summer. The southeast is similar, with most of the applicable area on Mountain Time and following DST. The Creston area is exceptional, ignoring DST. This puts that town in a situation similar to the northeast.^[5]

Since the time referendum the issue has flared up in Creston politics at least twice. At least two referendums have been held, neither of which succeeded in changing the status quo.^[1]

References

Elections and referendums in British Columbia General elections Colony of Vancouver Island 1856 1860 1863 United Colony of British Columbia 1866 1869 Post-Confederation 1871 1875 1878 1882 1886 1890 1894 1898 1900 1903 1907 1909 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1952 1953 1956 1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1979 1983 1986 1991 1996 2001 2005 2009 2013 next By-elections List of British Columbia by-elections Referendums 1873 1909 1916 1916 1920 1924 1937 1952 1952 1972 1991 2002 2005 2009 2011