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“Our goal was not to ignore our own role in climate change but to encourage change and action on climate change,” said Crompton’s statement.

Cameron Proctor, the chief operating officer of PrairieSky Royalties, a firm that manages royalty lands, told the Post they were disappointed in the tone of the letter sent to CNRL and, as a result, was no longer going to attend a major investor conference CIBC is putting on in Whistler in January.

“We think that there’s a lot of misinformation energy floating around out there about Canadian energy,” Proctor said. “There’s not a lot a lot we can do today to correct that misinformation … but one thing we can do is vote with our feet and vote with our wallets.”

CNRL spokeswoman Julie Woo confirmed Friday that they’ve backed out as well, but she had no additional comments when asked why they had made that decision. Gibson Energy, as well, told the Post they were no longer going to attend the conference.

In a video posted on Facebook Thursday night, Crompton said the purpose of the letter was to join a call to action on climate change. “I sincerely regret that anyone felt unwelcome,” he said.

West Coast Environmental Law, a firm which has helped draft letters for other municipalities, worked with Whistler on the letter and provided mailing addresses for the energy companies. Andrew Gage, a lawyer with the firm, said the goal was to start a conversation about who ought to pay for the effects of climate change. Other jurisdictions have tried more heavy-handed tactics; San Francisco and Oakland, for example, actually sued oil companies in a high-profile case that a U.S. federal judge dismissed earlier this year. This, Gage said, hasn’t yet happened in Canada, but the firm is hopeful it will.

“We have massively increasing costs that communities are facing due to climate change,” Gage said. “I guess the question is, how are we as taxpayers going to pay for these huge, increasing costs?”

The municipality has not received any responses to its letters.

• Email: tdawson@postmedia.com | Twitter: tylerrdawson