In January, Liberal party pollster Michael Marzolini...

In January, Liberal party pollster Michael Marzolini told an MPs meeting that polls have consistently shown 75% of Canadians said yes to capital punishment. But when he changed the wording in his latest mood-of-the nation poll and asked about "the death penalty," only 48% said they supported it. Capital punishment and the death penalty may technically mean the same thing - but not to some Canadians. The difference is that "capital punishment" is a soft bureaucratic term, while "death penalty" is a very human one, said Liberal caucus chairman Joe Fontana said. "What this tells us is that we have to be very blunt and specific when discussing these issues - the language makes a big difference in determining what Canadians really think."