The Library of Parliament is frequently asked about the origins behind the “tradition” of finance ministers wearing new shoes on budget day.

Hoping to solve the riddle once and for all, we undertook a systematic search and discovered the following:

The notion that this practice stems from a British tradition can be laid to rest. We have it from the British High Commission that Westminster tradition allows the Chancellor of the Exchequer to carry into the House an “old despatch box” and to take any liquid refreshment of his own choosing while delivering his budget speech.

At least one Canadian minister of Finance, William S. Fielding (1898–1911, 1922–1923), somewhat followed this British custom by entering the House of Commons with his “little red despatch box.”

The Canadian practice of wearing new shoes seems to be fairly recent, and in spite of our efforts, its origin remains mysterious. In an attempt to solve this mystery, we spoke with every finance minister (or their assistant) from Douglas C. Abbott to Michael Wilson.

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.

Our research shows that only eight finance ministers wore new shoes on budget day, and even here there is some variation. Donald Fleming was the first for whom we found a record, followed by ministers Sharp, Chrétien, Lalonde, Wilson, Martin (who wore new boots as a gift from Jean Chrétien), Goodale and Flaherty. (An additional minister appears on the footwear list indirectly, since John Crosbie wore used mukluks to present the budget in 1979.)

We also checked Hansard from 1938 to 1970 and read newspaper reports of budget presentations since 1930. The first mention of new shoes appeared on March 31, 1960, when Donald Fleming was finance minister. A newspaper report refers to the new shoes as a budget tradition, but there is no indication as to its origin.

Other people were also contacted – political analysts, academics, journalists, public servants – but no one could shed new light on the issue.

1. Wilding, Norman amd Philip Laundy. An encyclopedia of Parliament. See Despatch box; Budget Box. House Magazine 10:1, 3 March 15, 1985; Le nouveau budget britannique ouvre la voie à des élections anticipées. Le Devoir 16 mars 1987. p. 5.
2. Idem. See Budget.
3. Ottawa Journal March 2, 1943; June 21, 1946.
4. House of Commons. Debates. Nov. 30, 1967. p. 4899.
5. Robert Bryce, the Finance Dept. historian, having stated that no such practice existed during the thirties or before.