Why my Canadian family is loving Donald Trump

I was in Victoria over the weekend at a family gathering and inevitably, because I am the token American, the topic of President Donald Trump was the first thing many of my relatives wanted to discuss with me.

Because Canada is currently in the midst of a love affair with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, I thought the conversation would be predictably hypercritical.

I was expecting a lot of: “How could you elect that man?” and “We just don’t understand you Americans.”

I heard a little Trump-bashing, but not much. It turns out most of my family is a fan of our president. Why? Because Canadians like making money too. Here are a few numbers:

• 18,332.74 – NYSE close on Nov. 8, 2016
• 21, 638.58 – Time of this post

That’s an 18 percent increase. That’s something that positively affects more than just people here in the states.

Many of my relatives on this side of the family are beginning to approach retirement age. What’s the number one reason someone isn’t quite ready to retire? Lack of savings. All those that have a 401K or a pension (which was everyone) has been thrilled with the first six months of this new administration.

For a lot of the Canucks I spoke with, this “Trump Bump” (a phrase I heard quite a few times over the weekend) made the decision to end their professional life a lot easier.

One of my cousins actually moved his retirement date up an entire year.

Many academics will tell you there are a number of factors that have led to our current financial boon.

Maybe.

In good economic times, the president gets the credit. And the Canadians, polite people that they are, have no problem giving it to him.