Whistler ski resort makes a mess of climate extortion.

The oil and gas portion of an investors conference in Whistler has been scrapped after the resort town’s mayor demanded fossil fuel companies pay for costs associated with climate change.

Mayor Jack Crompton posted a video apology to Facebook on Thursday after Postmedia reported on his letter to Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.

“I sincerely regret that anyone felt unwelcome here,” he said. “We recognize there are hundreds of thousands of Canadians who work directly and indirectly in the oil and gas sector and they are very proud of the work they do.”

In the letter, Crompton asked CNRL pay a “fair share” of the town’s “costs of climate change,” including part of a $1.4-million wildfire protection budget.

But the apology hasn’t stopped investors from cancelling their trips to Whistler for the 21st annual CIBC Whistler Institutional Investor Conference in January, and Postmedia has learned CIBC has cancelled the oil and gas sector’s part of the conference.

“The Canadian energy industry has been a global leader of responsible energy development,” CIBC said in a statement. “We are committed to our clients in the energy sector as they play a key role in driving the Canadian economy.”

Crompton acknowledged in his apology how the resort community depends on fossil fuels and said Whistler has “a responsibility to respond to the climate change challenge ourselves, and do it locally.”