Anti-Keystone billionaire takes aim at Harper

OTTAWA – An anti-Keystone XL crusader is suggesting Canada’s aggressive lobbying for the pipeline project played a part in the ongoing government shutdown south of the border.

Tom Steyer, a San Francisco billionaire and a major Democratic party fundraiser, has written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

In his letter, Steyer chastises Harper for saying he would “not take no for an answer” from U-S President Barack Obama on whether to approve the TransCanada pipeline proposal.

READ MORE: No doesn’t mean no on Keystone: Harper

Harper took the hard line on the Keystone project last week while at a Canadian American Business Council forum in New York.

Steyer questions whether Canadian government lobbyists urged House Republicans to include Keystone in a litany of demands put to President Obama.

READ MORE: Critics protest Keystone XL pipeline outside U.S. State Department

Republicans having closed down the U-S government and are threatening to oppose an extension of the country’s debt limit unless certain demands are met.

Steyer says the original list of Republican demands included the approval of the pipeline.