An article on the Parliament of Canada website explains that only seven Ministers of Finance have worn new shoes on budget day. From The Minister of Finance's New Shoes:
Posted on February 15, 2005 11:41 PM. Filed under: Canada.The Reference Branch of the Library of Parliament is frequently asked the origins of the "tradition" according to which the Finance Minister wears new shoes on budget day.
Hoping to solve the riddle once and for all we undertook a systematic search with the following results: [continue]