February 1995 - Liberal Finance Minister Paul Martin introduces a deficit-cutting budget in which deep spending cuts outweigh tax increases by seven to one. "Not to act now to put our fiscal house in order would be to abandon the purposes for which ... this government stands - competence, compassion, reform and hope," he says. In a display of unity that's rare outside wartime, the right-wing opposition Reform Party backs the spending cuts.
April 1995 - Moody's, which had warned of further downgrades even before the budget, cuts its Canadian dollar debt rating to Aa1 from Aaa. It also lowers foreign currency debt to Aa2 from Aa1, despite the generally positive market reaction to the government's fiscal plans.
October 1995 - Quebec voters reject a proposal to separate from Canada, removing a layer of uncertainty that had pressured Canadian markets.
March 1996 - Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio peaks at 68.4 percent of GDP in the 1995-96 fiscal year, ending March 31. (The ratio was originally reported at above 70 percent but revised downwards with changes to federal accounting rules.) By way of context, S&P expects the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio to end 2011 at 74 percent.
Fiscal 1997-98 - Canada posts a budget surplus for the first time since 1969-70. The era of budget surpluses ends only when the Conservative government steps up stimulus spending during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis