A high profile member of the Liberal party is under fire for comments he made about his counterparts from Wildrose Country.

After a Natural Resources Committee meeting Tuesday, Ottawa MP David McGuinty told the QMI Agency Alberta MPs should return home.

Appearing frustrated, he told reporters Conservatives from Alberta should adopt a more national view on the energy industry or work in municipal or provincial politics.

“They are national legislators with a national responsibility, but they come across as very, very small-p provincial individuals who are jealously guarding one industrial sector,” he says.

His comments aren’t sitting well with many Tories.

Ottawa MP Pierre Polievre called the remarks shocking, while Calgary Centre-North’s Michelle Rempel challenged McGuinty to repeat the comments to her face, inside the House of Commons.

Peace River Member of Parliament Chris Warkentin tells 660News he was surprised and disgusted by McGuinty’s statement.

“To suggest that if Albertan MPs came to Ottawa, that they should resign their seats and return to the province of Alberta seems reprehensible,” he says.

“This clearly is the position of the Liberal Party, to suggest that a province should not have representation in the House of Commons, is absolutely ridiculous,” Warkentin adds.

The Alberta caucus plans to demand an apology from both the Liberal party and David McGuinty.

Calgary-Centre Conservative candidate Joan Crockett also weighed in on the controversy.

In an email sent to 660News, Crockatt says “This anti-Alberta prejudice is the same the Liberals had when they brought in the disastrous National Energy Policy in the 1980s.”

University of Toronto Political Scientist Nelson Wiseman doesn’t think the comments will have much of an impact in the current Calgary Centre byelection.

He says the downtown riding has become more diverse in recent years and in the end, believes Albertans aren’t concerned about the opinions of one Ontario MP.