Alberta finance minister to wear same boots as last year on budget day

On budget day this week, Alberta's finance minister will wear the same pair of cowboy boots he wore last year while tabling the fiscal plan for the province.

Instead of hosting a shoe unveiling, the province released a video Monday revealing Travis Toews would wear the same pair of boots he purchased from Calgary's Alberta Boot Company last year.

"They've served me well over the past year, and I will be wearing them again this year," Toews said in the video.

The storied Canadian tradition of finance ministers unveiling the pair of shoes they will wear on budget day is said to help represent the major themes of the upcoming fiscal direction.

"The past two years have been hard," Toews said. "Your work may have changed, or maybe you lost your job. You juggled a routine that changed constantly, and on top of it all, you tried to make sense of a world that we really didn't know anymore."

The finance minister said budget 2022 will represent the province "moving forward."

"I know it's been hard, but I really believe things are looking up," Toews added. "Budget 2022 is a budget for you. For your future. For your kid's future and for Alberta's future."

Toews also wore cowboy boots when unveiling the United Conservative Party government's first provincial budget in 2019. Those boots were the minister's "town boots" when he leaves his ranch.

At that time, Toews said cowboy boots represent Alberta's heritage and character, reflecting strong work ethic, resilience, and self-responsibility.

Minister Toews puts on his two-year old cowboy boots in preparation for budget day in October 2019 (Source: Government of Alberta).

The province has seen years of multibillion-dollar deficits, but Toews told CTV News Edmonton in January that this next budget shows improvement is on the horizon.

"We have an improving fiscal situation here in the province, certainly this year, but we have an improving fiscal trajectory as well," Toews said.

Last February, the finance minister predicted a deficit of $18.2 billion. By November, the projected deficit shrunk to $5.8 billion. Some economists believe the province could now be back in the black.

The budget will be tabled on Thursday.