Civic Referendums not necessary??

Update from Cariboo RD Area 'B' Director Heloise Dixon-Warren (via her FB Page):

Greetings daybreak.

This morning, while travelling through Prince George, at a very early hour (6 am) I heard your interview about community referendums. On the air, the upcoming referendum scheduled to occur in the Quesnel area was referred to as “a referendum in Quesnel”. The interview proceeded to refer to the city and its council. Just want to provide some accurate information and stress the importance of confirming details prior to discussing such issues.

The referendum being held in the Quesnel area on November 9, 2013 is a Cariboo Regional District / CRD referendum. This referendum is not specific to the City of Quesnel; rather it is very much of relevance to parts of the Electoral Areas A, B, C and I (“North Cariboo”) of the CRD and the City of Quesnel as residents of these jurisdictions are all able to vote.

As an Area Director, it is incredibly important to me that information such as this is accurately reported on. It is an ongoing challenge as some regional district residents are not aware that they have a vote in this upcoming referendum. This is because they believe only City of Quesnel residents can vote; but this is not the case.

Thank you.

Original Blog Post:

Earlier today - CBC Daybreak North interviewed Ryerson University urban planning professor Mitchell Kosny on the subject of civic referendums, given the Cariboo Regional District is set to go to referendum on November 9th on the subject of extending the $15 million borrowing bylaw for the North Cariboo Multicentre until 2015 while Prince Rupert Council will not submit their $7 million borrowing bylaw for their airport to direct referendum

Listen to the interview here

As I mentioned on my personal Facebook page, I don't share the views of Professor Kosny on the subject of civic referendums as I believe they have their place when a local government contemplates borrowing a significant sum of money - $1 million+.  Referendums in this region are a fairly rare occasion, usually 1 or 2 per term of local government

However, I do agree with Professor Kosny for the need of local elected officials to constantly engage their residents' on local issues to ensure the success of our civic governance structures - whether that be regional district, school district or municipalities

-- SBF