By: Paul Grigaitis

Much to my delight, for the first time in my life this year I’ve not had to move my clock one-hour backwards as everyone else outside Saskatchewan did this weekend to signal the end of daylight savings time.

Daylight time is a system adopted across North America (except Saskatchewan) and most of the world that adds more daylight to the evening through spring and summer.
Every spring, people move their clocks ahead one hour and every fall people move their clocks back one hour in recognition of this system.
The concept was originally conceived in Paris by Benjamin Franklin in  1784 while he served as U.S. minister to France.  Franklin was inspired to calculate how much money the city of Paris could save on candles had they had one more hour of sunlight in the evening after waking earlier than normal one morning because he had forgot to shut the shutters to his bedroom, according to the book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time, written by David Prerau.
Energy savings remains to this day the number one reason for implementing daylight savings time, but Prerau’s book highlights other unexpected areas affected by daylight time including a man’s draft status.
According to Seize The Daylight, a man born just after midnight during daylight time successfully avoided the Vietnam War after arguing that he was born the previous day under official standard time.
Apparently daylight time has also caused riots where bars stay open past 2 a.m. because patrons lose one hour of drinking time on the day daylight time springs forward one hour. Seize The Daylight lists Athens, Ohio, the site of Ohio University, as one of those places.
Daylight time can also prove deadly for terrorists who forget to adjust their clocks on time bombs as it did back in 1999 after  some West Bank Palestinians smuggled bombs to Arab Isralies who lost their lives after the bombs detonated one hour earlier than expected, Prerau writes.
I consulted Prerau on a separate assignment shortly before I moved to Saskatchewan this spring.  I asked the expert who consulted U.S Congress on the law that extended daylight time in 2007 why Saskatchewan was so reluctant in adopting the concept.
He didn’t have a firm explanation, but suspected that the large agricultural community had something to do with it. Farmers have been the most opposed to adopting daylight time because they prefer to have their sunlight in the morning, he explained.
While daylight savings time also provides other benefits such as the ability to reduce crime and traffic accidents, on the other hand, I have to say I’m just fine with leaving my clock just the way it is. I haven’t been a fan of daylight time since that day about 15 years ago when I showed up to work for a 6 a.m. shift at 5 a.m. Here’s to not changing clocks at all, Saskatchewan.