Honouring a fun and unique Canadian tradition, federal Minister of Finance and Toronto Centre MP Bill Morneau travelled to Rose Avenue Junior Public School in downtown Toronto on February 23. Joined by a couple of grade five and six classes, Bill tried on his new pair of shoes for delivering the 2018 budget.
While mysterious in origin, the tradition of wearing new footwear can be said to have started with Canada’s first Finance Minister Donald Fleming in 1960.
Bill’s 2018 shoes were made by Poppy Barley. This is the second consecutive year he has chosen the Edmonton based company for his budget shoes.
He explained the shoe unveiling to the gathered students and tried them on, taking some time to explain the budget and the government’s goals for 2018. Afterward, he answered several questions from the bright, curious, and hard-working students of Rose Avenue.
The assembled students asked questions about how the government was helping Canada’s Indigenous Peoples, supporting seniors, protecting nature, increasing immigration, and helping the homeless.
They were forward thinking questions, demonstrating a deep sense of caring for their fellow Canadians and country.
The budget, which Bill delivered a few days later on February 27 in the House of Commons, aimed at addressing these very concerns from the students by identifying many ways the government could provide every Canadian an equal and fair chance at success.
