Justin Trudeau’s Unusual Handwriting Was Your First Clue . . .

Photo by Joseph Costa on Unsplash

In 2015, Justin Trudeau’s candidacy for Canadian Prime Minister generated hope and excitement. Now with this current election, the enthusiasm has dampened. If nothing else, he’s racked up a lion’s share of ethical violations.

I did try to warn you.

Signature of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

As a therapist trained in analyzing all forms of behaviour, including graphic gestures etched when a person puts pen to paper, it’s my day job to detect the contours of personality. Even people’s signatures contain information about who they are. When I saw Justin Trudeau’s signature on his campaign materials, I saw trouble.

So I wrote a Huffington Post blog and described the abstract reasoning and executive skill that normally characterizes political leaders. Remember the type that used to run for leadership? I showed that, based on his handwriting alone (let alone his resume), Justin Trudeau was not that person.

Signature of Justin Trudeau

I pointed out that his signature reveals him to be, well, another type: The Performer. All those dramatic embellishments, that cartoony handwriting, large with pizzazz, showing the colourful fellow who loves to be front and center. “Look at me,” cries that signature. He was, after all, a drama teacher. He comes by it naturally.

I noted that the performer type is very mindful of appearances. Remember years back when a passenger on an airplane handed Trudeau a note asking him if he was going to be the next prime minister? Trudeau penned back: “Just watch me.”

In fact, Trudeau is a watcher; his bubbly signature reveals a predominantly visual, not auditory, perceptual style. That’s why he relies on pat, repetitive ‘talking points’ and lacks fluency — so many um’s and ah’s — when he speaks. Look again at his signature.

Signature of Justin Trudeau

See the profile of an Elmer Fudd character wearing glasses, all eyes, no mouth, looking off to the right? That’s Justin! In Question Period, He mouths the same lines over and over. What he’s really doing is watching us watch him. He performs. He poses. He dresses in costumes.

As a rule, performers are secretive. You see the performance; the rest is under wraps. Look again at his moniker . . . or is that signature his logo? The secret innards, small case letters that are completely illegible, contained in large enclosing and protective circular structures, all of which are sheltered below another line that hovers protectively above.

Signature of Justin Trudeau

The personal name, representing the personal self, is abbreviated, withheld; yet another graphic sign of the private individual. As a rule, his busy machinations are hidden, shielded by protective bubbles and under canopies that keep him well-cloaked. Transparency is not his thing. Can you read that signature?

To boot, his archetype is the circle. The circle represents unity, belonging, the world of feeling, but also consumption, like a gaping mouth awaiting the goodies. He gifts you a selfie with him, but “one for you, one for me.” The real selfie he takes has him accepting perks to the tune of $200,000; otherwise extending a rather generous reach into the pockets of taxpayers, the governmental version of his modus operandi. This Santa brings a few trinkets, then hauls away all the stuff you put there for your kids.

Contemporary intellectual Jordan Peterson describes Trudeau as a Peter Pan character, the boy who never grew up. In his tome by that name, Peterson describes the ‘Map of Meaning’ each person harbours in the deepest recesses of self, an archaic map of yesteryear, home of our narrative, our issues, and certainly our neurosis. From the playful handwriting, I find in Trudeau the magical child, a map that guides him to play the pleaser, the playful, the puppet. Or, even more specifically, an archetype: the prodigal son. That character will not come to maturity until the last dime is spent.

For the sake of progress - his and ours - hope for his stunning defeat. Because the writing is on the wall. And because at this point it’s pretty clear. Those who voted him in originally, read him all wrong.