Under pressure from financial markets, Canada eliminated its budget deficit in short order in the 1990s, going from the second worst fiscal performer in the Group of Seven industrialized nations, after Italy, to the top of the pack. Here are highlights of what led to the Liberal government slaying the deficit with the backing of a conservative opposition party. October 1992 - Standard & Poor's cuts its rating on Canada's foreign-denominated government debt to AA-plus from AAA on concern about the current account deficit, a growing government debt load and uncertainty about the political situation in ... (full story)