...do we then have to roll over? Or, in this case, if the elephant messes with its clock, do we have to go along with it too?

At this writing, three provinces–Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick–say they’ll go along with the US plan to extend Daylight Savings Time by four weeks, starting in 2007. Quebec is rumoured to be close to the same decision. Saskatchewan doesn’t do daylight saving at all. No word yet on what the rest of Canada will do.

Proponents say the change will save energy and keep us in synch with our mega trading partner, the US, on everything from timed deliveries to TV schedules.

But the Conservation Council of Ontario says any energy savings would be minimal, and Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time, told the CBC that energy use will actually go up. "If you give people more sunlight at the end of the day, they’ll [drive their cars to malls] to spend money."

Opponents say the change will send children to school in the dark, making them less safe, while the Airlines Industry worries it will put international flight schedules out of synch with the rest of the world. Computer programmers will have to prepare to send out software updates that recognize the change.

REEFER MADNESS

Why do so many in the police ranks and the media focus on the marijuana aspect of the James Roszko case? Roszko, who gunned down four young Mounties in Mayerthorpe, was a convicted sex offender with a long history of violence. He was not a major pot grower. He had started a small operation to make money. In another era, it could have been a still. Alcohol seems to have played a much larger role in Roszko’s life, and it plays a much larger role in violent crime in society in general–as does methamphetamine these days. Pot might make people silly, it might make them couch potatoes, watching too many cartoons and eating too many non-nutritious snack foods. It might make them lazy, it might make them write bad poetry, it might exacerbate existing mental illness in a tiny percentage of chronic, heavy users, though studies seem to disagree on that. But it does not make people violent. If anything, it tends to curb those tendencies. By focusing on Roszko’s grow-op, we are ignoring the real issues–this man was mentally ill and violent and should have been kept in custody and treated.

ON A RELATED NOTE...

According to a University of Alberta study, Albertans suffer from more depression, mental illness, and social discord than people elsewhere in Canada. The high number of transient workers, cut off from their customary social networks, might be a contributing factor.

BE A CONSTRUCTIVE MASOCHIST–GIVE UNTIL IT HURTS

These may be boom times in Alberta, but a lot of people are still in need. Both the Edmonton Emergency Relief Society and The University of Alberta Food Bank report increased requests for help this year. The EERS has just launched its roundup of blankets for the poor.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Television could perform a great service in mass education, but there’s no indication its sponsors have anything like this on their minds." Tallulah Bankhead