A Canadian handwriting expert is raising questions about the signature on former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s resignation letter, suggesting it bears no resemblance to her known autograph.“This is bizarre,” said Carole Tovell, president of the Canadian Centre for Handwriting Analysis. “It is completely different.”Freeland published her resignation letter on social media, signing it with a sweeping turquoise ink signature that looked nothing like her typical “C Freeland” autograph, widely seen on official federal documents..Tovell, a graphologist based in Toronto, said such a drastic change in signature is unusual, even for someone under emotional strain. “Everyone, even if rushed, basically signs their name the same way,” said Tovell. “You see the same pressure, the same letter formation. Here even the capital ‘C’ doesn’t even make sense.”The handwriting expert suggested two possibilities: Freeland was under “extreme duress” or someone else signed the letter. “Even under duress you sign your name using the same formations. It all comes from the same brain,” she explained.“The first impression is these two samples are terribly different from every standpoint. It is like a person trying to change their name. They are so different I thought someone else wrote it.”Tovell added that the signature did not appear to be a forgery attempt, as it lacked the usual effort to replicate someone’s handwriting. “Even when you see a pretty bad forgery, it is a laboured attempt to replicate a signature,” she said. “This is not even close. This is like someone trying to disguise their name.”
