Thank you. Mr. Chairman, the proposed bill is to repeal the Metric Conversion Act so that we can remove from the statute books an act that no longer has any legal effect.
The Metric Conversion Act was enacted in 1977 to facilitate the conversion from the Canadian system of units, known as the imperial system, to the international system of units, known as the metric system. The act provided that the Commissioner could enter into agreements with the Government of Canada for the establishment of a metric information centre and for the establishment of programs for the distribution of information about the metric system.
The act also provided that the Commissioner could, by order, designate any act, regulation, order, municipal by-law or other instrument which uses the imperial system to be deemed to be using the metric equivalent. No orders have been issued. All territorial legislation now uses the metric system and the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has encouraged municipal corporations to use metric units in their by-laws since 1977.
At one time, a metric information centre was operated under agreement with the Government of Canada. The centre distributed information about the metric system but it ceased operations many years ago.
Those are the extent of my comments. Thank you.