With the release of the much-awaited Drummond Commission report on Wednesday, so begins months (perhaps years?) of political and public hand-wringing over a myriad of proposed spending cuts.
But as debt-laden economies attempt to balance the books in the aftermath of the recession, Ontario, which is striving to eliminate its $16 billion deficit by 2017-18, isn't alone in taking up the mantle of austerity.
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And Canada's most populous province is hardly worst off. Here are seven jurisdictions where the axe has fallen hardest.
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