The B.C. government and the city of Vancouver are lobbying the Trudeau government to reduce the municipal share of the cost of major infrastructure projects, such as subway lines, and Ottawa is signalling it is willing to consider a change.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, who in a speech in Ottawa Thursday likened the Oct. 19 federal election to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, confirmed on Thursday he is asking the federal government to lower the municipal contribution to major projects to 10 per cent from 33 per cent.

That would be a game-changer for Metro Vancouver transit projects, by offering a way out of the logjam on local funding that could easily force another plebiscite for local taxpayers and politicians.

It would also put the cities’ share more in line with the proportion of total taxes they raise, said Robertson, chairman of Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ big city mayors’ caucus.

Currently the provincial and federal governments and local municipalities each fund one third of major local infrastructure projects.

“A new formula that recognizes what we currently collect in tax dollars is the fair way to approach this,” Robertson said.

Robertson said the federal government and the provinces could split the remaining 90 per cent, though he said a new formula could provide some flexibility on who pays how much. Robertson was in Ottawa to lobby a number of Trudeau’s cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi, to make that change as well as push for other city-friendly policies in the 2016 federal budget.

The B.C. government also confirmed it is also pushing for Ottawa to change the funding formula, though no specifics were offered on what Victoria is seeking.

Peter Fassbender, B.C.’s minister for TransLink, said it’s premature to talk about how the funding formula should be revamped, or who should pay what. However, he acknowledged the province will go to the federal government and reinforce both the provincial transportation plan and Metro’s transit priorities in an attempt to find a way to fund them.

“Right now, what we need to do is not get hung up on a percentage, but get all of us at the table,” Fassbender said. “We are still operating under the same formula we have in the past — a third, a third, a third — but if that changes because someone is prepared to put more on the table, of course we will talk about that.

“Whether that is something the federal government is willing to look at that, we’re willing as a government to work with all the parties to help facilitate finding a solution. This is all about getting the job done.”

Robertson acknowledged it’s “early days” and ministers have not made any commitments.

But he noted Sohi has already made a move to ease the pressure on cities. The federal infrastructure minister announced this week that Ottawa will drop a Conservative requirement that provinces and cities consider creating public-private partnerships before receiving infrastructure dollars.

That demand has been a major hurdle for Metro Vancouver in its bid for federal dollars to construct a $700-million Lion’s Gate waste water treatment plant by 2020. Metro has been lobbying for three years to get funding, but hasn’t qualified under the federal government’s rules.