When he became leader of the Liberals, Justin wanted to downplay his rich-kid, frat-boy image. So he appeared in a TV commercial in front of a blackboard with complex mathematical formulas written on it, looking all frowny faced and playing up his past employment as a substitute teacher.
Watching those ads, you would be forgiven if you thought Justin had perhaps taught math in inner-city schools to underprivileged youth, rather than, say, at the tony, private West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver. And given that it was elementary school math he was teaching, the odds are slim that he ever taught anything close to the advanced mathematics problem he was posing in front of, but who knows? Maybe the kids at elite private schools are just smarter than the rest of us.
Justin worked as a supply, or “substitute,” teacher, filling in where needed: drama, social studies, French, even elementary school math. Most of that was at a private school, true, but as Althia Raj notes in The Contender,
Although Trudeau spent most of his teaching time at West Point Grey, his campaign plays down the fact that he taught mostly rich kids.
During an interview with Global BC this January, in which he stressed his B.C. connections, Trudeau fibbed and said he had spent more time teaching at . . . a public school.