Now that we are committed to holding a province-wide referendum on the HST, this might give us a one-time chance to hold a simultaneous mini referendum on whether or not the residents of the Capital Region are in favour of amalgamation to form a functional regional government with all the administrative powers it would have.Such a regional government would provide the means to solve such vexing problems as financing the replacement of the Blue Bridge, the Colwood crawl and light rail transit to the western communities, among other issues.It is self-evident the provincial government and numerous individual municipal governments do not have the moral courage to bite the bullet. It is possible that holding a purely local referendum would give an accurate reading of the public’s mind on the matter.David B. BuchananSaanich
