Things started to go downhill in 2008, when the province entered a period of high spending by hiring thousands more public servants and paying wage increases far beyond inflation.
As a devastating report prepared for Newfoundland and Labrador premier, Andrew Furey, by former Canada Post chief executive, Moya Greene, points out, “financial restraint was not in the mind of the general public or the leadership of political parties.”
Spending rose from $4.97 billion in 2004/05 to $8.97 billion this year – an increase of 80 per cent.
Newfoundland and Labrador may be in the worst shape but it is not alone. Federal government sources concede it is the expired canary in a coalmine where other provinces are already showing signs of gasping for air.
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