They also seemed to help me with hip rotation
This is something I've never really felt like is a thing with canoe paddling. Maybe more so with kayaks but I've never felt the benefit with the canoe stroke nor does it appear most other paddlers use it either from what I can see. But I was never a good racer so maybe that's what was holding me back.
I've had boats with foot straps. I never felt like I utilized them all that much. Perhaps the biggest benefit I felt was edging tender racing boats as the strap on the foot away from the lean gives you a bit of a stabilizing anchor point.
Alan