Herald poll question misleading to readers
By Lethbridge Herald on April 11, 2025.
Editor,
The Lethbridge Herald must be called to account for a recent poll that misleads the voting public, specifically the daily poll published in the online newspaper on April 9th. This poll read “Should federal candidates address coal mining even though it’s a provincial issue?” As anyone who has lived in Alberta for a while should know, the province regularly loses court cases on that very issue. Yes, provincial jurisdiction encompasses mines, but mines can also impact things of national import. Coal mining affects Canada’s carbon footprint, air quality, water quality, and wildlife, as well as indigenous rights, all federal issues. In fact, coal mine pollution from the same region the poll is about has contaminated the United States and caused a serious international incident.
The Herald covered all these things in the news and is certainly aware of them. Telling readers coal is only a provincial issue in the poll question, when it isn’t, completely invalidates the poll, forcing readers towards one response based on a false premise. This might be an error, which is bad enough, but it may also be an attempt to make voters comfortable with pro-coal candidates, by giving them the impression coal mines can’t be a consideration in a federal election.
I’m willing to give the Herald the benefit of the doubt, as long as they’re willing to remind the public that federal candidates should certainly be expected to have a stance on coal mining.
Tom Moffat
Lethbridge
-4
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I agree that the Heralds wording on that poll was not only misleading but a blatant lie to favor the UCP. The federal govt has a lot of say in the approval of the Grassy Mtn mine. Unfortunately this is par for the course for the Herald. This is the main reason I no longer subscribe to the Herald newspaper. George
You certainly have it right. Why do they think Teck Oil Limited was fined $60 million for polluting the water in B.C. and Montana by Fisheries Canada?