Gallery: Eight Canadian finance ministers with new shoes
TORONTO – Having the Minister of Finance purchase a pair of brand new shoes just prior to releasing the annual budget has been a Canadian tradition since…quite frankly, no one really knows.
“The Canadian practice of wearing new shoes seems to be fairly recent, and in spite of our efforts, its origin remains mysterious,” states an entry on the Library of Parliament’s website.
The library conducted extensive research, including speaking with every finance minister or representative from Douglas C. Abbot to Michael Wilson, as well as delving into old press and parliamentary records. Despite their best efforts, the investigation was inconclusive.
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“From these conversations we learned that none of these ministers were certain of the origin of this practice. Some believe it is a British tradition, others say it isn’t a Canadian tradition at all, while still others state that the tradition is of fairly recent origin, dating back only to the fifties or sixties.”
So although there is no concrete historical precedent for Jim Flaherty donning a pair of Roots sneakers, Canadians can take solace in the fact that their financiers are at the very least well-heeled.
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