America/Resolute

[Chris Walton]

Not that anybody asked... but I thought I would provide an update on America/Resolute.

Some of you may remember that in 2006, the small community of Resolute a.k.a. "Resolute Bay" in Canada's arctic stopped the biannual practice of changing the clocks.
In March of 2007 I initiated the creation of a new Canadian zone named "America/Resolute" with a fixed time of "UTC-5".

The only web reference that I ever came across (other than my own postings) was this:
http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2006-11/nov13_06none.html

Since there has been no recent documentation, legislation, news reports, or any other information on this subject,  I decided to place a another call to the Resolute "hamlet office" last week to get an update.
I was able to confirm that Resolute is still stuck on UTC-5.
Thus the current information in the TZ database remains correct.

I will mention, however, that the residents of Resolute believe that they are changing "time zones" twice a year.
In winter months, local time is qualified with "Eastern Time" which is really "Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5)".
In summer months, local time is qualified with "Central Time" which is really "Central Daylight Time (UTC-5)".
I don't think anybody expects the TZ database to accommodate for this... as long as the offset from UTC is correct.


I did notice today that the entry for Resolute in the zone.tab says "Eastern Time - Resolute, Nunavut".
To be consistent with other Canadian zones that don't observe daylight saving time, it should probably say "Eastern Standard Time - Resolute, Nunavut".


-chris


-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Walton 
Sent: March 14, 2007 11:03 AM
To: 'tz at elsie.nci.nih.gov'
Subject: RE: proposed tz patches for Cuba, Mongolia, Turkey, Resolute, Indonesia 

A couple of weeks ago I reported that "Resolute" on Cornwallis Island in Nunavut Canada did not change its clocks on October 29/2006.
I only had one source of information.
http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2006-11/nov13_06none.html


Today I phoned the "hamlet office" to find out what Resolute was doing with its clocks.

The individual that answered the phone confirmed that the clocks did not move at the end of daylight saving on October 29/2006.
He also told me that the clocks did not move this past weekend (March 11/2007).
He was not sure whether to refer to the local time as "Eastern Time" or "Central Time" but we did a quick time check comparing his clock vs my clock and I was able to confirm that Resolute is currently running on UTC-5.

The implication is that Resolute has been on UTC-5 (Eastern Standard Time or Central Daylight Time) since April 2/2006.


I was also told that the hamlet council has not officially announced what will happen next fall.
Apparently there was confusion for residents when the time did not change last October... specifically with respect to television schedules.


America/Resolute should use the "Canada" Rule up to October 29/2006.
After that it should be fixed on Eastern Standard Time until further notice.

-chris