Waterloo Regional Council will vote on the light rail transit plan in two weeks, but it's unclear if turning down a referendum means a vote in favour of rapid transit.
On Wednesday, councillors voted seven to three against a proposed referendum on the transit plan that would have seen the public have their say on the decision.
Two councillors were absent for the decision and four chose not to vote because of a declared conflict of interest.
The decision came despite an Ipsos Reid poll in which 83 per cent of people surveyed said they were in favour of a referendum.
But the motion in support of a referendum was a relatively last minute proposal, and council's rejection isn't necessarily an endorsement of LRT, or is it?
Ruth Howarth of Taxpayers for Sensible Transit was in favour of a referendum, but she thinks councillors had already made up their minds.
"It's been a long process. They've had a lot of input and you know this almost looks like a little sop to the public and I'm glad we had that opportunity to do it."
But Regional Councillor Jim Wideman doesn't think that's a fair assumption. He says a vote against the referendum is just that.
Wideman says he'll vote in favour of LRT, but will introduce an amendment, "My recommendation is going to be one of having a whole look at what the tax rate impact will be and ways of potentially reducing that tax rate."
Details of any proposed amendments will be provided to councillors early next week. There will likely be more than one amendment, but they are not expected to delay the June 15 vote.
Robert Milligan, a former candidate for the regional chair position, is a long-time local environmentalist. He supports electric trains but not the current transit proposal.
But he still thinks LRT is a done deal, "I think they have their mind made up, but the problem is, I feel none of them has a strong technological background."
He believes there are less complicated and less expensive light rail systems the region should consider.
