Standardizing Time: The Canadian Case, 1870–1920

My comments will concern the implementation of standard time in Canada, from early proposals in the 1870s until 1920 when it became the official time for all Canadian provinces.  Broadly, sociologists and historians have argued that adopting standard time was a powerful benchmark in the reorganization of culture away from nature and God as prime organizing authorities and towards a culture organized by human authorities - what many have termed as modernity.   In Canada, the history of time has been told largely through the ideas and international lobbying of the larger-than-life Canadian figure of Sandford Fleming who some credit as being the inventor of standard time.  Yet, these Canadian stories tell little about local debates over standard time and never evaluate the extent to which or how standard time was put in place. I will demonstrate the slow way in which standard time entered into Canadian law and the diverse ways in which different Canadian provinces institutionalized this time reform.  My comments will also highlight institutions and towns that refused to put standard time into place.  Ultimately, I argue Canada’s federal system of government, the limited powers of private industry and the extent to which individuals and institutions were integrated within these networks shaped the emergence of a system of standard time in Canada.