New shoes on budget day

New shoes on budget day is an unusual tradition among Canadian Ministers of Finance. The tradition holds that the Minister of Finance should purchase or wear new shoes when the budget is delivered.

The exact origins of this tradition are not known. The observance of this tradition has been inconsistent among federal ministers; indeed, for two or three finance ministers, this tradition only holds if "new shoes" is interpreted to mean "new footwear". It also makes appearances among provincial finance ministers.

While several Canadian parliamentary traditions have their origins in Britain, new shoes on budget day does not.Donald M. Fleming in 1960 was the first Minister of Finance known to follow a practice that was already being described in the media as "traditional", with one account claiming that the tradition of wearing "something new" began as early as Sir John Rose's first budget of 1868.

Walter L. Gordon, the next Finance Minister, did not wear new shoes for his three budgets from 1963 to 1965, but his successor Mitchell Sharp wore new shoes on budget day in 1966 after he was told that doing so was a tradition; "Later, I learned there was no tradition behind it at all", Sharp said. The following year there were two budgets, one in June where he wore new shoes and one in November. Sharp wore the same pair of shoes in November, as budget day fell on St. Andrew's Day. He said, "being a Scot, and this being the second budget I have presented this year, I am wearing the same shoes that I wore when I presented the budget on June 1."

Following Sharp, Edgar Benson wore a new pair of shoes on budget day in 1968, although he said, "He didn't buy them just for the budget." The following year he did not wear new shoes when delivering the budget, saying jokingly that he couldn't afford them, and in 1970 proudly displayed his worn soles on budget day.

Whether the next two Finance Ministers, John Turner and Donald Macdonald, delivered their budgets with new shoes is unknown. Macdonald's successor Jean Chrétien wore new shoes for both of his budgets of 1978. The next minister, John Crosbie, wore used mukluks in 1979 for his only budget. Following Crosbie, whether Allan MacEachen wore new shoes is unknown, but in 1984 his successor, Marc Lalonde, did for his second budget. Michael Wilson wore new shoes for the first four of the six budgets he presented beginning in 1985.

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Wikipedia