In 1970, Canada became officially metric. I still had six years of secondary school to complete at the time, so had a solid introduction to the system. I was on the leading edge as PET's great vision for a Canada trading internationally in units accepted throughout the modern world swept the country.
It's now 44 years later and what has emerged is not a smoothly oiled trading machine, but a completely confused citizenry.
Because of my age when the process began, I am reasonably well versed in metres, centimetres, kilometres and kilograms, but I hardly ever use these measurements.
But, it isn't just my generation that's confused. In conversation with our 25-year-old sports guy, I determined he thinks of distances in metric, having a solid grasp of what a centimetre and a metre look like, but will still give you his height in feet and inches and weight in pounds.
He also admits to mixing iced tea measuring the powder in cups and the water in litres.
We've mostly grasped the concept of buying our incredibly over-priced gasoline by the litre, but gauge our vehicle's efficiency in terms of miles per gallon.
When we want some meat to throw on the barbecue we shop in a store that advertises the price per pound, but when we get to the checkout the sticker on the package reads per kilogram.
Degrees Celsius we have embraced, and we can grasp what a 60 kph wind feels like, but those are just two small successes in an otherwise abysmal record of conversion. Most still measure rain in inches and snow in feet.
Back in the days of Imperial measurement, the only area of real confusion was the difference between an Imperial gallon and a U.S. gallon and an Imperial quart and a U.S. quart. According to some sources, fluids now being sold in Canada are not quantified in litres, but U.S. quarts and gallons. Sure showed them, didn't we? We're changing to metric and, by gum, what's good for us is good for the rest of the world!
There was about a gazillion dollars invested in Canada's grand dream of metrification. It was a process doomed from the start. The metrification myth failed to take into account the elephant next door. The gigantic beast that always assumes it sets the trends for the rest of the world and the rest of the world should just follow along behind.
Vic's View columnist Vic Hult puts it this way, "They (Americans) buy our stuff as soon as it is converted back to American."
To be honest a certain level of stubbornness doomed the effort, but that just illustrates how ivory tower policy builders fail to grasp the true personality of the people they are trying to manipulate.
