Support (and resultant pressure on politicians) would have been higher if the "network" everyone talked about started with some sort of RT on Queen...it would have been more visible...I get why it didn't....it was a QP/Mississauga driven initiative but the reality is it did not impact enough people in Brampton to get the majority of the citizens even the least bit excited.
And Council took the risk of saying no to the funding from the Province and studying alternatives to Main. By saying yes to Main, they could have worked with the Province to build that bigger network and possibly leverage more funding and better integration with Queen. Why not do both routes at the same time (and I realize I'm being a little general with the word "do")? Other cities are building multiple LRT routes or rapid transit routes. Council decided that they wanted to do something different (and likely hope for a different provincial government) and we'll see how it all turns out.
If Queen is a bigger priority or more transit for the people east of Main is a critical issue, it's hard to see how Council's decision to wait for Main alternatives until 2020 helps that cause. I get that you're more focused on ridership and the business case, but in my view, saying yes to the offer of funding for Main, leveraging it to build a bigger network (like Ottawa and KW are doing, or even Calgary) for routes like Queen or other parts of the Council-approved) transit master plan (picture below), makes more sense and is less risky. Windows where provincial/federal funding from any party/government are few a far between. We really want know if Council's gamble/decision was a smart move until after the next Provincial election - for Queen, anything east of Main, or the Main alternatives. Council had the transit master plan in front of them that shows the network which included Queen.
Maybe communication that Queen was part of the network could have been better. Maybe city staff, Metrolinx (or whoever does provincial planning after 2018 if the PCs get rid of Metrolinx), future mayors and Councillors will treat the HMLRT situation and the public awareness issues you've raised as a learning experience and see if anything more can be done to show that funding one transit line doesn't mean nothing will happen on the rest. That's not what happened in Ottawa or KW.
I'm not surprised the overall awareness of the LRT proposal was low. I bet though it's the same in all cities doing it/planning for it. Until shovels are in the ground and people physically see it, I agree that most of the people paying attention (including commentators here) are very engaged compared to the general population. BRT or LRT with dedicate lanes is also a bold new step for the 905 (and Hamilton, Ottawa, KW). There's nothing like it so it will take time for people to understand what it is and how it is physically different than conventional transit. I bet a lot of folks living in Mississauga still don't know what the Hurontario LRT will look like or how it'll interface with existing buses, or for the people living along or near the Finch LRT. It's certainly a challenge elected officials, city staff, and Metrolinx need to address and have strategies to account for, but I don't see Brampton being that different from other places/debates where a new form of transit (BRT or LRT) is being contemplated.
Another example is Malvern in Toronto. They are left out of the subway/LRT plan unfortunately. The only Scarborough Councillor to support the LRT plan represents a completely different area of Scarborough. So again, comparing the Brampton transit debate to the Scarborough LRT/subway debate and the role Malvern residents had at being aware/contracting Scarborough elected reps, I see parallels. It's unfortunate but I totally understand that many people don't have time to follow posts on UT or attend any and all consultation meetings/Council meetings.