Canadians, it seems, have thrown out old and cold Saturn in favour of Apollo himself, the god of light. In other words, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party trounced Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.

Harper was older, colder, stiffer and meaner. Trudeau’s approach to politics? “Sunny ways, Canadians, sunny ways.”

Justin Trudeau was born in the purple on Christmas Day, 1971. His father Pierre Trudeau was prime minister — and still riding the wave of “Trudeaumania” that swept him to power. In fact Trudeau Pere would go on to serve for more than a decade, so JT grew up in the power house. This legacy is something that JT will never get away from — but that may not be a problem for him at all.

Justin Trudeau has the Sun in Capricorn, a traditionalist’s sign — and in fact, Saturn’s sign. So it turns out that beneath the “sunny ways” lies a steely and ambitious resolve –– and a determination to carry on the legacy that we know about. What is more, Saturn is the most angular planet in this chart, right on the MC, a point which is associated with the stronger parent. Justin Trudeau, like his father before him, is here for the long haul, and he intends to rule.

Saturn at the top of the chart — sometimes the loss of a parent or being brought up by a lone father/mother. Both are true for Trudeau, and this would be a key influence in JT’s life. He is self-reliant, passionate and a fascinating mixture of calculating and impetuous. He’s brave, definitely, but also lacking in empathy. This does not mean he is not compassionate — on the contrary, he is, very — but that he has a hard time imagining himself to be anything other than what he is. He is compassionate not from imaginative co-creating but through conviction and ideology. It’s not like he’s ever thought there but for the grace of god… on the contrary.

“We knew we were the luckiest kids in the world. And we had done nothing to actually deserve it.

“It was instead something that we would have to spend the rest of our lives to work very hard to live up to.” – from Justin Trudeau’s eulogy for his father

You need that Capricorn ambition and focus to rise to power — even if it did seem effortless. He’s also helped by the other cardinal planets. Pluto in Libra makes a neat square to his Sun Trudeau’s plans are also ambitious — and exciting. He’s got the majority in Parliament that he needs to implement them, if he moves quickly. On the agenda are: more refugees, legalising marijuana, reaching out to the indigenous tribes of Canada, and actually doing something about climate change. Oh and taxing the rich to give to the middle.

His mother Margaret Trudeau — 30 years younger than Pierre — famously lost custody of her children when the couple finally divorced in the 1980s. She had already semi-abandoned her family: she was apparently dancing in Studio 54 in New York when Pierre lost the 1979 election. She did a lot of tell-all interviews subsequently and has published a book on bipolar disorder. In short, she’s pretty much the opposite of Saturnian. She was a real wild child whom Pierre never tamed. Note JT’s Aries Moon in the 8th House — a place of wilderness — opposite Uranus, the planet of non-conformists everywhere. In contrast to his father’s May-September union, JT married a childhood friend.

Moon in Aries can have an explosive temper. He must keep that under control, but when it comes out — whoa, hold on to your hair. In fact, all the fire in this chart is useful because it warms up the Saturn elements nicely. Natally, Trudeau has Jupiter in fiery, expansive Sagittarius. This is a powerful placement but inclined to over-reach, and it just magnifies that warrior Moon.

Virgo Rising does give him a problem solving approach to the world. He wants to fix things but may be inclined to simultaneously get sucked into too much detail and waffling thanks to the Jupiter and Mercury in Sagittarius. Right now Jupiter is giving all Virgoan and Virgo Rising politicians a big boost. Just look at socialist Bernie Sanders just across the border — who’d’ve thunk that one? Jupiter will be in Trudeau’s first house until next summer, raising his popularity and personal appeal further. This transit also gives him the positive, expansive energy to make some profound changes — possibly in the way Canada is governed — as it trines Pluto in Capricorn most of that time.

One of the most interesting placements in his chart is Mars in Pisces — at the final degree. This is actually the very last degree of the Zodiac — the most universalist placement in the entire circle. It squares Jupiter in Sagittarius. This is an idealistic man, prepared to fight for his beliefs, or maybe this is compassion that he’s willing to fight for. Judging by the policies we know about, this may well be the case.

Canadians are occasionally sneered at for being “nice” by their cousins to the south, but the really huge dollop of sunshiney niceness promised by Trudeau might turn out to be just the spoonful of honey we all need in the West. It’ll be interesting to see if he brings more equality and justice to Canada — both for the indigenous people and the ordinary middle classes. Both his promise to raise taxes on the 1% and find out about the missing First Nation girls. This latter is no small thing — more than 1000 indigenous girls have gone missing.

JT was elected an MP in 2008, as Pluto, the planet of power and transformation, moved into Capricorn conjoining his natal Sun. His rise to power was fairly rapid after that, taking even him by surprise — apparently.

He has a handful of planets at 2-3° making aspects to his Virgo Ascendant. In particular, the Sun is flanked perfectly by Venus (beauty and art) and Neptune (glamour and music). This is one of the few politician’s who really could have been a film-star. Apollo the Sun prince was the son of Zeus, King of Olympus. He was a musician and healer, a charmer and seducer, a (relatively) reasonable god in an unreasonable pantheon.

His Conservative rivals were right in a way. It does look like JT’s Achilles’ heel could be his inexperience; nor is he especially a team player.