Let's all take a deep breath and get folkloric for a minute, eh? According to Wikipedia , wearing new shoes on budget day is a distinctively Canadian tradition. The Brits don't do it. The You-Alls don't do it. Nice young men who sell antiques don't do it. But WE do it, quite often anyway.

The oldest example they cite is from 1960, but at that time the practice was apparently already considered "traditional". John Crosbie wore mukluks one time, and Paul Martin tried it with work boots on. In Alberta, Stockwell Day delivered a budget while wearing in-line roller skates. What a goof.

As far as the $138 goes, wouldn't your REAL plutocrat spend that much on his SOCKS? As a point of comparison, before I retired from letter carrying I was going through a couple of pairs of boots a year at $200+ a pop. By the way, as a crown-corp retiree I'm expecting the worst from the authoritarianos, if not next budget then the one ofter that. Or the one after that.