Revives Old Weights, Measurements : Canada Retreats on Shift to Metric; Will Use Dual System to Soothe Critics

For the last 15 years, Canadians have been traveling by the kilometer, getting snowed on by the centimeter, buying gasoline by the liter and groceries by the kilogram.

While Americans were resisting the metric system, Canadians were doing all of that with a minimum of grumbling, in compliance with the government’s view that Canada must join most of the rest of the world in using the metric system.

Now, though, the Canadians are taking a different view. The new government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has decided that starting next month, Canadian retailers may advertise their wares based on the old imperial system of ounces, pounds and gallons, though they will be required to give the metric equivalents as well.

Advocates of dropping the metric system argued that some people did not understand it. Moreover, they said, an American program of shifting voluntarily to the metric system has not worked, and since the American economy is so influential in Canada, it makes no sense to have differing measuring systems.

It was in answer to such concerns--often expressed by people who also objected to the metric system because it was developed in France and seemed to be an insult to Canada’s British heritage--that Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative Party made restoration of the old way a campaign issue.

An English King’s Thumb

Still, although a couple of trade associations have described the return as a step in the right direction, there has been little praise for the government’s willingness to reinstate a system based on such inexact measures as the length of an English king’s thumb or his arm.

Robert Nuth, spokesman for the Canadian Construction Assn., said the 25,000 firms he represents have invested millions of dollars in equipment based on the metric system and oppose efforts to return to the old ways.

“We’re a long way down the road to completing the conversion process,” he said.

Retail associations estimate that businesses have spent $l50 million on converting and generally feel that their customers are now comfortable with the metric system.

All but about 10% of the scales in grocery stores are metric, as are nearly all gasoline pumps, and prices in stores are quoted according to the metric system. Clerks at several large supermarkets and other retail outlets said they have not heard any complaints in years.

‘Real Life’ Measure

Occasionally, an older person will ask in a puzzled way exactly what minus 17 degrees Celsius is “in real life” (it is 1 degree above zero Farhrenheit). However, most people have no difficulty expressing temperatures in Celsius, weight in kilograms and distance in kilometers. And everyone seems to know that 25 centimeters of snow means a big blizzard.

So why change back? Actually, it is not that much of a change. Although the Tories, as the Progressive Conservatives are commonly called, promised a total return to imperial measures, the new rules provide only that retailers who want to can use the old system.

And even if they do, they still have to display metric figures as well. In fact, in making the announcement, Consumer Affairs Minister Michel Cote declared that “metric is here to stay.”

According to sources close to the situation, Cote and another Tory member of Parliament, William Domm, represent districts that feel strongly about keeping the imperial system because of its sentimental association with the British Empire. Both are loyal supporters of Prime Minister Mulroney, and were allowed to push the idea as a reward for their support.

Also, there were instances in which the government of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau seemed to be pushing the metric system to extremes. On two occasions, service station owners have been threatened with heavy fines and possible jail terms for selling gasoline by the gallon. Tory sources say these charges will be dropped and that there will be no new prosecutions, at least not for the time being.

Industry Fears Losses

Nonetheless, industry spokesmen worry that even the weakened move by the government could cost hundreds of millions of dollars in production and lost trade opportunities if businessmen feel they have to return to the imperial system.

Even Cote, the minister for consumer affairs, acknowledged that there will be problems. For instance, he said, a motorist could drive into a service station advertising in both metric and imperial but find that the gasoline is dispensed only in metric.

“A return to imperial would lead to utter confusion in the marketplace,” said Kempton Matte, president of the National Dairy Council of Canada.

He said the need for double packaging, proliferation of product sizes and increased production, distribution and marketing costs would force a rise in consumer prices.

It remains to be seen whether all these dire predictions will come true. In the meantime, some businesses are already operating under the new-old system. A store in Toronto offers a filet of sole for $8.13 a kilo, or, if the shopper prefers, $3.69 a pound.