A6 - Friday, August 31, 1984 - North Shore News GE editorial page , Futile exercise his week’s ‘‘name-the-price’’ contest takes first prize as the silliest and most pointless of all the games played in the current election campaign. Challenged by Prime Minister Turner, Brian Mulroney comes up with an_ initial 22-year cost of $4.3 billion for some (but by no means all) of the Tories’ election prom- ises and says he’ll find the money without in- creasing the deficit or cutting social pro- grams. Liberal promises this time having been somewhat less free-wheeling, Mr. Turner counters with a $5.2 billion tab spread over four years. Safe in the knowledge that he’ll never have to give an accounting, Ed Broad- bent prices just the first year of his advertis- ed NDP goodies at $1.84 billion. All three leaders then\xigorously attack the others’ figures -- but y they expect the electorate to have the slightest faith in ANY such figures is beyon comprehension. Voters are not that dumb\ They know nei- ther Mr. Mulroney nor Mr. Broadbent have had access to the government’s books, and they doubt whether even Mr. Turner has had time to study them in detail. How can you estimate anything accurately without know- ing the starting numbers? Aside from that, the ruinous $30 billion annual deficit achieved after 16 years of Trudeau government is disastrous proof that the arithmetic of politicians can never be trusted, even when they do control the books. Mr. Turner was ill-advised to open this particular can of worms. It’s a time-wasting exercise in futility that’s of no help what- soever to voters. Lesson time, Bill! EXT Tuesday threatens to find thousands of Lower Mainland students unable to make it to class because of the li-week-old bus strike. It would be a good day for the B.C. Legislature to get ‘‘back to school’’ too and complete right away Lesson Number One in serving the public interest — by ordering an immediate return to work by the drivers pending a settle- ment of the dispute by negotiation or, failing that, binding arbitration. The long, hot sum- mer is over, Premier Bennett. Get with it, like Bill Davis in Ontario! THR YONGE OF HONTH AND WKET VANCOUVER north shore news BUEDRAY WKONEEDAY Display Advertising Classified Advertising Newsroom Circulation Subscriptions 980-0511 986-6222 985-2131 986- 1337 980.2707 + Fray 1139 Lonsdate Ave. North Vancouver,BC V7M 2H4 Publisher Peter Speck Editor-in-Chief Noel Wright Associate Publisher Advertising Director Robert Giraharn Tans borates Personnel Director Classified Manager Clrcutation Director Bern tHilhard tA Me Cscwe: Val Stephenson Production Director Coheis Jonson Photography Manager Terry Peters North Ghore Newa. tousded 6 16 an an codepeEndeol subir Newspaper ANd Quablhed voce Scheibel bis Hl Par aqeagatl [lf the facine Tas Act is puttished aach Wecesday boday ane yotdaay bry North Store beae Press bt and distetaatod every hor an the Nott Shore Second Cdaas Mat Hegisteation Nurmibe we Entire contents 4 1904 North Shore Free Preas td All rights roserved “peatosse cipotroniss NMaeth aad West vias one ca ahd pre yer Mantliegy 6 nters avaitatite on cequent No casponsibuily acceapted toe se vtec die stent Hartera Maarwate Hipts an pI tr whe ts ibrstel be ae addressed onvelope Member of the B.C. Press Council ccad | 65,770 (average Wounenday HDA ONVIHON reve teas begs Meigen crest Toy oe bape tapadne ds Foudeay A Soardays fay SN — GQu . Pater 9 a ot Amertee . THIS PAPER IS RECYCLABLE J =—3 t a; \\ Yi Pity John had no astrologer! RE YOU TIRED of polls, pundits and political pontifications? So how about see- ing what the arcane art of astrology has to say about the fortunes of John Turner and Brian Mulroney on Sept. 4? With the = star-charts drawn, one thing stands out more prominently than Mulroney’s chin in a TV close-up. For sure, John Turner didn’t have an astrologer on his team of ad- visers when he set the election date. Neptune, planet of illusion and confusion, crept ominously into John Turner’s chart in early August, and broods there un- ti) mid-October. That planet is the one any self-respecting warlord kept close tabs on, way back when astrologers got equal billing with generals and diplomats Without a staff starperson to warn him, Turner has tallen prey to influences which traditionally bring massive problems in profession and reputation That Neptune positton ts also reputed to bring secret enemies out of the closet) Not a good state of mind in which to fight an able and wily op ponent: By September, opine the stars, John Turner wall be thinking: ‘I was afraid that was going to happen, and tt has "' Mulroney's chart suggests plain even dull on September 4 ford to let the ballots fall where they may, knowing that, unless he makes some ghastly gaffe in the four days before the etection, he can ride to victory on a turgid tide of public apattry Mulroney fooks as tf bel come out on top more by sailing He can af omission than by commis ston) Both plancts Mars and Uranus suggest gales from the winds of change. with publ opinion set in a punishing mood No mattct what the personal values of tndividual candidates, the Stars tiply a collective reyes fron of the party which has By GEOF GRA Y-COBB sailed our economy mto the rocky waters of depression. For you and me, the voting public, September 4 is not an astrologically exciting day. Polling will be thin in some areas, foreshadowing the pohtician’s mghtmare which asks: ‘‘What if we held an election, and nobody voted?"’ Nothing so drastic this time around, but with Ed Broadbent's fortunes im. proving, watch for ‘safe’ seats to slip into NDP hands Some potential voters will forget the polls as they stay glued to their televisions, watching an international in cident unfold which the charts promise will erupt on Monday, September 3. Pity i fe GEOF AND MARYA GRAY-COBB recently returned to North Vancouver after spending a couple of years in the B.C. hinterland. Onc of the first jobs of the well-known local astrologer and TV personality was to spin his astrofogical wheels and produce this feagless forecast of the fortunes of our embattled politicalleaQers, Brian the Pisces and John the Gemini, on election day. In such political predictions Geof guarantees a margin of error not exceeding 100 per cent, so that any resemblance between his present forecast and actual Mulroney’s ego if the mid- week news features warlike reports rather than federal gains and losses. Brian Mulroney was born a Pisdes, on March 20, 1939. His chart sees him as an unusual person, interested in odd ideas and off-beat people -— and also very interested in himself. Behind that tact and reasonableness lurks a dif- ferent person from the public image. For instance, watch for growing symptoms of in- accessibility once he gets to be PM. Sure, Mulroney has great insight, a senous mental outlook, and a cynical susp cion which ensures he’s rarely tooled by others. But on the down side, his sometimes er ratic mentality can see him fly suddenly from smooth ur banity into | street fighting anger ofr misty generahzavions John Turner, ten years Mulroney’s senior, will have other wornes Turner first saw the light of day on June nny photo submitted events will likely prove that your guess ts as good as his 7, 1929. A Gemini, he’s a high voltage, nervous person. If we are to believe the stars, his failing can be a lack of consistency, and a critical ap- proach to people which tends to bring their flaws to the surface. Summarizing the great day, Mulroney’s chart clearly says: ‘Keep a low profile, Brian —— you can do more to win by keeping your hands off everything.’’ Turner’s chart is more ac- tive. Apart from the overall Neptunian gloom, his mood slips from mild confidence to despair as September 4 pro- gresses. The Moon, slipping along through Capricorn during the day, = starts everything calmly for Turner It doesn’t last. around 2°15 Pm Ottawa time, his aides bring him news which swings him into an emotional low Before his day ends, his chart 1s side swiped by tn fluences which are reputed to bring confrontations = with associates, ego-bruising, and the recognition that it’s time to start anew, to eliminate old negative condiuons The charts boil down to a forecast of a big win for the PC party, and with Prime Minister Mulroncy starting a new deal for all, what of the future? Batten down the hatches, if what the stars have foretold so.) far comes truce Planet Neptune leaves John Turner to tick his) wounds, and moves in on Bran Mulroney The old star tomes predict dangers of self-deception Delusions of grandcur, yet Profession suffering because of promises which turn out to lack substance And specula ion leading to heavy losses Surely not a quick repeat of the Joe Clark fiasco? So there you go Gallup versus me and the plancts On September 5, you can congratulate or deride. Either way is fine by me — 1f 1 blew it, I've found egg on my face 1s good for my complexion See you at the polls