A top Democratic party fundraiser can’t help but wonder if Ottawa hasn’t contributed in some way to the partial government shutdown in the U-S.

Tom Steyer points to the Harper government’s strong support for the Keystone X-L pipeline.

The San Francisco billionaire’s written to Stephen Harper criticizing the PM’s comment that he wouldn’t take “no” for an answer if the Obama administration turns down Keystone.

Steyer also wants to know if the Prime Minister or perhaps a cabinet minister may have urged House Republicans to include the controversial pipeline in the list of demands to the President as a condition to end the stalemate.