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So now Matthew Luloff is taking responsibility for his actions? | Opinion

Brigitte Pellerin: City council should express our collective outrage over his impaired driving with a formal reprimand.

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Matthew Luloff was found guilty of impaired driving after being caught in 2024 with more than twice the blood alcohol limit, and sentenced to financial penalties and one year without driving. The councillor for Orléans East — Cumberland said he was taking responsibility for his actions, which is fine, I guess. Not that he had any other options.

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But why can’t city council express our collective opprobrium?

Remember when Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante was prosecuted by Karen Shepherd, the integrity commissioner, for her social media sarcasm? The commissioner recommended docking her pay and council settled for a reprimand. How did we get to the point where we’re OK scolding a politician publicly for using strong emojis but we can’t say a thing about her colleague’s criminal behaviour?

When reporters tried to get councillors to say something about the Luloff verdict, they clammed up except for Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper who “wished him well on just a fundamentally human level,” and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe who said impaired driving “is extremely serious and poses a real danger to our community.”

Shepherd told the CBC the matter of Luloff’s conviction is outside her jurisdiction. “The appropriate authorities have been engaged, and an Ontario Court Justice has rendered a decision. Accordingly, I have no involvement.”

Gosh. I don’t feel like these statements represent my feelings on the issue. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone.

Everyone is entitled to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. But he was proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt after a full and fair trial during which his lawyer, the very capable Lawrence Greenspon, had every opportunity to challenge every piece of evidence.

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Luloff had the option of pleading guilty, apologizing, vowing to do better then getting to work showing everyone that lessons had been learned instead of dragging us through a long, difficult and ultimately pointless process.

I asked Luloff what, exactly, he meant by taking responsibility at this stage. How will we be able to tell?

He says he’s in therapy for his mental health and he’s taking better care of his physical health, including giving up alcohol. “Ultimately,” he says, “I understand that trust is rebuilt through actions over time. I remain committed to serving my neighbours with humility and to demonstrating through my conduct that I have learned from this experience.”

I could get snarky, but I’m going to trust that he’s sincere and wish him the best.

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But while it is not necessary to punish Luloff harder than is called for, we must recognize and acknowledge the seriousness of his behaviour and make it clear, including through city council, that we do not take such offences lightly.

We need to be satisfied that justice has been served. It is the job of the judge to determine what constitutes proper punishment. That did not include jail time for Luloff and, as far as I can tell, most Ottawans agree it’s a reasonable outcome. But why can’t his colleagues at council do something, anything, to express disapproval on our behalf?

I know provincial rules make that difficult, even in cases of egregious conduct. I trust you remember the long and sordid saga of Rick Chiarelli. Maybe city council can’t solve all those issues on its own, but it can say something. Like, I don’t know, issue a formal reprimand?

There are good reasons why elected representatives can’t easily be removed from office. It is fine and proper that the final arbiters of whether Luloff should keep his job are the electors of his ward. But that doesn’t mean the rest of council can’t express opprobrium in our name.

Luloff says he’s taking full responsibility for his actions. Maybe council can try that, too.

Brigitte Pellerin (they/them) is an Ottawa writer.

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