RDEK to Seek Public Input After Board Rescinds Previous Time Change Motion

The Regional District of East Kootenay will move forward with a regional survey to gather public input after rescinding its previous motion to move to year-round Mountain Standard Time. 

The move comes following a formal reconsideration request by Director Fairbairn of Elkford. “Following our meeting last month, we received a significant amount of feedback from people on all sides of the decision, and one of the strongly expressed concerns was the lack of public consultation,” explained RDEK Board Chair, Rob Gay. “We recognize that the issue of time observance affects every person in some way, and we have chosen to take a step back and do a regional survey to help inform future decision making.”

At its Board meeting today, the Board voted 13-2 in favour of rescinding its previous motion and unanimously supported the RDEK coordinating a regional survey. RDEK staff will now reach out to local governments within the East Kootenay along with neighbouring local governments in Golden and Columbia Shuswap Regional District to facilitate a coordinated approach. 

The survey will be the formal mechanism for gathering public input. “Our staff will need some time to craft the survey and communications plan in collaboration with the partnering local governments. While we don’t have a timeline yet for when the survey will be released, it will be well communicated and we will allow time for broad participation,” explained Gay.  

While the non-binding survey will help inform the Board’s future decision making, other factors will also be considered. The RDEK continues to await direction from the Province on the legislative aspects of potential changes and their implementation as that process is currently unclear.

“I want to thank all those who reached out to share their concerns, support and ideas following our meeting last month. It is clear there is a wide range of opinion and a great deal of passion. Our decision today will give the public an opportunity to provide us with formal feedback through the survey once it is released,” added Gay. 

On March 2, the Province announced the end of time changes for most of BC left areas like the East Kootenay that are in the Mountain Time Zone to decide for themselves. In response, on March 10, the RDEK Board voted 8-7 in favour of “falling back” one last time in November to align with the rest of BC year-round.  That motion has now been rescinded and any future decisions on the matter will follow the public consultation process. 

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