THUNDER BAY -- Clocks sprung an hour into the future at 2 a.m. Sunday but the city where daylight saving time originated has mixed feelings about celebrating the century-old tradition.
Port Arthur Council passed a bylaw enacting daylight saving time in 1908, the first municipality in Canada to do so.
Author David Prerau chronicles the adoption of daylight saving time in his book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time.
In the book the author dedicates a section titled Meanwhile in Canada, which follows businessman John Hewitson. The young man moved to Port Arthur from his home of Rossport, Ont., sometime around 1904.
A fan of local outdoor sports, Hewitson realized that by switching the time zone of Port Arthur from Central Time to Eastern, residents would enjoy more light in the evening hours.
Daylight saving time became an annual ritual where communities toss aside an hour of sleep in order to gain an extra hour of evening sunlight.
"Springing" clocks forward an hour conserves energy by transferring daylight from morning to evening,
Despite the benefits, the change disrupts the body's internal circadian rhythm. According to Live Science, the change correlates with increased car collisions, heart attacks, headaches and a rise in workplace injuries.
Tbnewswatch hit the waterfront on Sunday to ask locals how they feel about daylight saving time.
"I find it very frustrating. I think that it definitely messes up my biological clock and I am very frustrated when I read about where it comes from. It comes from sort of a big business way of getting more people to consume for extra daylight hours in the evening and that frustrates me." - Robert Stewart
"I think that it is more economic than environmentally friendly but I am fine with it." - Manuel Montes
"I am in favour of daylight saving time. I enjoy the longer days, the darker mornings this time a year are over with pretty quickly so it doesn't concern me. The first few days you seem to miss that hour of sleep but after that it's fine." - Ernie Kreutz
"I personally don't like the time change. No matter how small, it plays havoc with my biological clock for up to a week." - Susan Greer
"It doesn't make a difference to me, I go to bed whenever and I get up whenever." - Pauline Vesterback
"It is what it is. Who am I to disagree with what they say? If I have to push my clock an hour back I'll do it, If I need to push it an hour forward I'll do it." - Lana Hebert
Daylight saving time ends on Sunday Nov. 6.
