|
Hello everyone. I sent a message to Violet of the
Salish Indians last night. I will try and paste my reply in to this posting.
Hello Violet my name is John Mercer. I live in Langley B C. I would like
to challange you on your statement about the metric system been forced on
Canadians.
I am 54 years old and was educated in imperial, however i feel that the metric system is a far better system of measurement. I feel that first nations culture should be preserved. If you want to talk about things been forced on First Nations people how about been forced to speek english. If you go in to a lumber yard in Canada you will not see one metric measurement for lumber at all. If you buy carpet it is sold by the square yard. Houses are advertised by square feet. I would like to tel you that some very large companys in the United States have gone metric. i speek of General Motors Fordand Chrysler. The 3 largest producers of diesel engines in north america Caterpillar Cummins and Detroit Diesel all make engines with metric fasteners only. The automotive industry went metric in the early eightys. The government in eitherCanada or the States didn't force them to go metric. The imperial system of measurement is also from europe. The foot is the lenth of a british king's foot. The mile comes from Rome, the ounce from France and the pound also from Rome. Violet if you drive a car you use metric every day. If metric is so bad why wasn't there a revolt by industry when they changed. If metric is so bad why didn't the United Auto Workers union both in Canada and the United States stir up the pot of their members and say we won't except it.If metric is so bad why in other countrys that have changed from imperial to metric why wasn't there a revolt. I don't feel that the metric system of measurement is an insult to the First Nations people at all. First Nations people are just as smart as anyone else and can adapt just as well. I do agree that First Nations people have gotten the short end of the stick in many ways, but i feel the metric system is not one of them. If First Nations people measure their wonderful art work in either metric or imperial i feel it doesn't take away the uniqueness and beauty of it at all. Violet Thanks for your time, i hope i didn't offend you in anyway i just wanted to discuss this with you as you invited. Hope to hear from you soon. Yours truly, John Mercer. |
