"Beginning in the early 1970s, the federal government began incurring ever-increasing deficits (the annual amount by which government spending exceeds revenues). By 1995, the annual deficit had reached extreme levels, totaling $37.5 billion. Moreover, as a result of this persistent deficit financing, the federal government's total debt (the total of all past deficits and surpluses since Confederation) grew from $20 billion in 1971 to $588 billion in 1996. In 1994-95, the cost of maintaining this debt load was $42 billion, accounting for approximately 26 percent of the annual federal budget (Source: Statistics Canada, Federal Finances)."

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