Fredericton — Due to an information technology mishap in the premier’s office, the Province of New Brunswick will be moving from Atlantic Standard Time (AST) to Eastern Standard Time (EST), effective March 8.
Last month, Premier Brian Gallant finally received his new computer from the IT department. However, when setting it up, he mistakenly selected the “Eastern” time zone setting instead of the “Atlantic” time zone. George Porter, an IT department manager for the province, explained the situation to a Manatee reporter.
“It was an easy enough mistake to make,” began Porter. “He was excited about getting his new computer and he was going through the setup screens pretty quickly to see what games came with it. He’d just blazed through selecting his icon — he picked the duck I believe — and he accidentally accepted the default Eastern zone instead of changing it to Atlantic.”
“Unfortunately,” continued Porter, “once he finalized his computer setup, it was in Eastern Standard Time. Because of the way the various systems within the government work, the time in the premier’s office is considered to be the time for the entire government structure, and therefore throughout the province. The instant he typed ‘bgallant’ and ‘password123,’ the new time became official and every other clock in the province was technically running one hour fast.”
The time discrepancy was supposed to be straightened out on March 8; when most every other jurisdiction in North America set their clocks forward at 2 a.m. to commence Daylight Savings Time, New Brunswick did not — except for Gallant’s own computer. This moved the province into the Eastern time zone. On Nov. 1, when Daylight Savings Time ends, all New Brunswick clocks will move back an hour as they normally do. The one exception to this rule will be the time in Irving-owned facilities; they are free to do as they please as per normal policy.
New Brunswickers should prepare themselves for a few side-effects from the change: the sun will rise an hour earlier in the mornings than it normally would during the summer with Daylight Savings Time; this will be offset by the sun setting one hour sooner. The most noticeable impact for New Brunswickers will be that television programming will start an hour earlier than normal.
“We apologize for the inconvenience that this will cause the people of New Brunswick,” concluded Porter. “However, given the circumstances, we see no other alternative. We may be able to return to our original time zone after the next election or if the premier downloads a virus and needs to have his computer wiped.”
good move. about time