Holland calls criticism of road trip remarks ‘disingenuous’

Health Minister Mark Holland says “of course” he supports Canadians going on road trips after a video of comments he made during question period about the topic gained wide attention over the weekend.

Conservative MPs were among social media users sharing a video of Holland in the House of Commons saying road trips involve being “in a car for 10 consecutive days, non-stop, with no bathroom breaks” and all it costs is “the future of the planet”.

Holland told reporters that is out of context.

“I think that’s disingenuous. And I think selectively quoting me when they could see the context of question period, and what we were talking about, shows frankly, desperation in their message, and a willingness to be on social media to contort messages,” Holland said Monday.

So, what is the full context of the clip?

Last Thursday, Conservative MPs were calling on the government to adopt their motion to remove the carbon price, federal fuel tax and GST on gasoline and diesel from now until Labour Day.

MPs voted on this motion Monday and it was ultimately defeated with the Conservatives being the lone party to vote in favour.

During that May 30 debate, Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer argued this would save an average Ontario family $600 over the summer.

“Everybody knows that the carbon tax costs more than the rebate. That is why the Prime Minister was humiliated into granting a carve-out for just some people in some parts of the country. That is all we are asking for today: a carve-out on federal taxes on fuel and diesel for the summer,” Andrew Scheer said in question period last Thursday.

“For the average family in Ontario, that would mean almost $600 in savings. To the prime minister’s wealthy friends, that might not seem like a lot