Ottawa councillor Matthew Luloff, who called the Freedom Convoy a group of rowdy, hateful "miscreants,” faces impaired driving charges. Luloff is the councillor for Ottawa’s Orléans East-Cumberland and current chair of the Ottawa Public Library Board. He also served in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) from 2003 to 2009, including a deployment in Afghanistan, and now acts as a veteran’s liaison. During the Freedom Convoy, Luloff supported the invocation of the War Measures Act (Emergencies Act), per True North, which the courts early in 2024 ruled unlawful. Luloff’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon — who defended convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber throughout their mischief trial, confirmed the councillor’s charges to CTV News. "There was no accident involved. We will be defending Mr. Luloff on the charge and he is to be presumed innocent," said Greenspon. The charges still need to be proved in court. The court date is scheduled for August 8. Ottawa police told the publication the identity of anyone charged with driving under the influence is not shared with the public unless a serious accident was involved. "As a practice, we do not publicly name persons charged with impaired driving (unless it results in a fatal collision or life-threatening injuries)," said police. Luloff, who has been an advisor to several parliamentarians, almost ran for a Conservative seat in the House of Commons. In November, the Tories announced he would run in the Orléans riding in the next federal election. On July 10, the party told CTV he pulled out "due to a personal matter."The Ottawa councillor told American taxpayer-funded NPR the Freedom Convoy was fuelled by “miscreants,” "radicals" and "hate."Luloff said the protest was “morphed into something much uglier” than portrayed by eyewitness reports. "Some of the most well-known radicals in this country have now descended upon the capital,” said Luloff, without naming any. "Some of them are calling for violence. Some of them are threatening individual politicians. There have been, you know, threats against life and limb. And it’s incredibly discouraging. We’ve seen some hate symbols. We’ve seen flyers distributed that are acutely anti-Semitic,” he said."And so, essentially, it's the municipality that is paying for the grievances that these truckers and other miscreants, frankly, have with the federal government."
Ottawa councillor Matthew Luloff, who called the Freedom Convoy a group of rowdy, hateful "miscreants,” faces impaired driving charges. Luloff is the councillor for Ottawa’s Orléans East-Cumberland and current chair of the Ottawa Public Library Board. He also served in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) from 2003 to 2009, including a deployment in Afghanistan, and now acts as a veteran’s liaison. During the Freedom Convoy, Luloff supported the invocation of the War Measures Act (Emergencies Act), per True North, which the courts early in 2024 ruled unlawful. Luloff’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon — who defended convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber throughout their mischief trial, confirmed the councillor’s charges to CTV News. "There was no accident involved. We will be defending Mr. Luloff on the charge and he is to be presumed innocent," said Greenspon. The charges still need to be proved in court. The court date is scheduled for August 8. Ottawa police told the publication the identity of anyone charged with driving under the influence is not shared with the public unless a serious accident was involved. "As a practice, we do not publicly name persons charged with impaired driving (unless it results in a fatal collision or life-threatening injuries)," said police. Luloff, who has been an advisor to several parliamentarians, almost ran for a Conservative seat in the House of Commons. In November, the Tories announced he would run in the Orléans riding in the next federal election. On July 10, the party told CTV he pulled out "due to a personal matter."The Ottawa councillor told American taxpayer-funded NPR the Freedom Convoy was fuelled by “miscreants,” "radicals" and "hate."Luloff said the protest was “morphed into something much uglier” than portrayed by eyewitness reports. "Some of the most well-known radicals in this country have now descended upon the capital,” said Luloff, without naming any. "Some of them are calling for violence. Some of them are threatening individual politicians. There have been, you know, threats against life and limb. And it’s incredibly discouraging. We’ve seen some hate symbols. We’ve seen flyers distributed that are acutely anti-Semitic,” he said."And so, essentially, it's the municipality that is paying for the grievances that these truckers and other miscreants, frankly, have with the federal government."
