Premier Kathleen Wynne is signalling the end to an era of austerity by lifting the “net-zero” provision on public-sector contracts.

With the Liberals set to balance the books in the 2017-18 budget, Wynne on Monday confirmed that negotiations with public servants will no longer be conducted under the constraint of net-zero bargaining.

“We recognize that we’ve had very good co-operation and challenging discussions with . . . public-sector workers. We’ll continue to work to make sure that we are financially responsible, fiscally responsible,” the premier said at the South Riverdale Community Health Clinic on Queen St. E.

“We’re on track to balance and we, at the same time, will be working with our public-sector employees to support them in the work that they do and make sure that they continue to be able to deliver the terrific service — just like the service that’s delivered here at South Riverdale,” she said.

“Net zero has been a parameter of negotiations for some time and so now . . . we’re going into a new round of negotiations recognizing . . . we need to continue to find ways to make decisions on compensation, on service delivery, that recognize the needs of the system — and the needs of the individuals who work in the system.”

Wynne stressed there will be a new “set of parameters in place” to protect the treasury while rewarding employees — such as teachers — who have had wages frozen for years.

Treasury Board President Liz Sandals noted that since 2012, provincial collective agreements have had an average of 0.6 per cent annual increases compared with 1.7 per cent for federal workers, 1.8 per cent for municipal employees, and 1.9 per cent for those in the private sector.

But Sandals emphasized the province’s newfound largesse doesn’t mean the purse strings will be loosened that much.

“Oh, I didn’t say we were going to make it rain . . . don’t put words in my mouth,” she joked with a reporter.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said “they never followed it so it seems pretty meaningless” that the age of zero per cent increases is over.

“They hadn’t been acting on it so it’s not really news,” said Brown.

NDP MPP Jagmeet Singh (Bramalea-Gore-Malton) accused the Liberals of messing up public-sector negotiations for years.

“They’ve been colossally horrible. Look at the way they treated the teachers and they dealt with that and they created chaos in our education system,” said Singh.

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“Look at the way they’re currently negotiating with doctors,” he said.

“They simply don’t know how to negotiate properly or effectively.”