The Matt Brown Podcast

Today is July 16, 2026. It's 7:45am and I am on the 11th storey of a high rise down by the forks of the Thames. I'm looking south facing and can barely see the Normal School Tower over in over in Wortley Village - which, as the crow flies, is just under a kilometre away. Smoke from wild fires raging in Quebec and Northern Ontario has drifted south and has blanketed London, much of South Western Ontario and beyond. At just over a half a century years old, this is something I can't recall in past decades, not at least to this scale. Maybe you can, but this feels different to me. All outdoor city programming was cancelled last night and Rock the Park shut down around 9pm, too. Last August, Dr. Carol Dyck joined this podcast for our 3rd episode to talk about climate change, and what London City Council is (or isn't) doing about it. (Side note: we get to refer to Carol as Dr. these days because she earned that distinction this spring - congratulations Dr. Dyck!). The information she shared on that episode, just under a year ago today, is just as relevant today as it was in 2025, perhaps more so. As London and all municipalities approach the 2026 municipal election scheduled for this fall, I wonder if climate change will enter the debates in ward races and the city wide race too. I also wonder how this event is affecting the election on the ground. Are candidates going door to door? If they are, will residents be willing to open their doors and step outside to chat in this smoke? Of course municipalities can't address big issues like this on their own, but they do have a role to play. What do you think? Thanks for listening, and be safe, London.

Dr. Martin Horak is here to talk about the municipal election. Martin is an expert in Urban Politics and a professor at Western University. He was also a member of the London City Council Resourcing Taskforce, which that saw the current members of city council vote for a significant raise from just under $70,000 now to $94,000 as a starting point for the new term of council, coming in this November. By the end of this coming 4 year term, the salaries are projected to top out around $105,000 for a city councillor in the final year of next term. If you’re the deputy mayor or budget chair, both appointments by the mayor, you’ll be making approximately $113,000.00 and if you’re the mayor, you’ll be making just a touch over $180,000. Martin is joining us today to talk about that raise, current council's record setting 23.5% tax increase, ward boundary changes, bus rapid transit, the incumbent advantage, other city wide issues, ward races and the Mayoral campaign, too.

Hello London - This is The Matt Brown Podcast. It’s the show about all things local, and maybe some other stuff too. It’s another good show for you today. You may have noticed that this show has been a little quiet over the past week or so. I want to tell you why. I’ve been working on a new start up project with my business partners - some names that you are likely to know. Steve Cordes, Mike Donachie, Cedric Richards and Diana Tamblyn. It’s called London Ontario Online News, or The Loon for short - We launched it a couple of weeks ago. What is it? It’s your local, independent media outlet, made up of five committed locals with stories to tell. We send out new content every day, and it’s all local and curated for you. It’s free right now, and we’re asking listeners to take a paid subscription to support the work. Eventually much of the content will be available only to subscribers, and a portion will remain free for the time being. What’s The Loon’s line-up? Well it’s new content, every day: Monday: The Buckle Up podcast with former mayor Matt Brown and a special co-host setting up your week. Tuesday: City Editor Cedric Richards tours London’s 14 wards by bicycle, finding stories to tell. Wednesday: Mike Donachie provides the Executive Briefing For Informed Citizens, with issues, decisions and discussions shaping local government. Thursday: Culture Editor Diana Tamblyn shares news, perspectives and stories from London’s creative community. Friday: Opinions Editor Steve, retired non-profit leader and video blogger, with views on the week we’ve had. I’m sharing latest “Cedric’s latest Ward Tour - where he speaks with Mike Donachie about beautiful Ward 11 Steve’s latest Friday Reflection, and my latest “Buckle Up” here. So that you can get sense of the programming. Where can you find us? Go to the Substack Platform and search "London Ontario Online News." If you like what you you hear, read and see - please subscribe - and tell your friends. We’re heading into our third week with of this project and the response to date has been phenomenal. We hope you like it, too. Thanks for listening!

The London Municipal Election is well underway. Local journalist, and one of my business partners at London Ontario Online News (LOON), joins the show to tell us all about it. You can find The LOON over on Substack. As always, thanks for listening!

A new Project! This is Buckle Up, your weekly update about all things London brought to you by London Ontario Online News - that’s LOON for short. What's LOON? Mike Donachie, Cedric Richards, Diana Tamblyn, Steve Cordes and I have teamed up to provide London leaders like you with 5 products per week that will focus on all things local. You can find us over on Substack. This week, all of the content is on the house and next week, if you like what you're hearing, reading and seeing - you can subscribe. The London Ontario Online News line up: Monday - Buckle Up - podcast with Matt Brown and Guest: The weekly podcast to set you up for the week ahead. News – construction – weather – nonsense. Former mayor Matt Brown, our Executive Editor, leads this and will bring in more guests over time. Tuesday - Cedric in the City - tour with Cedric Richards: Join City Editor Cedric Richards on a tour of London’s 14 wards by bicycle, beginning with Ward 1. Supported by Mike Donachie. Wednesday - City Hall Notes - news and more - by Mike Donachie: Your Executive Briefing For Informed Citizens, looking at the issues, decisions and discussions shaping local government. Thursday - the Forest City Arts and Culture Roundup - by Diana Tamblyn: Our Culture Editor shares news, perspectives and stories from London’s creative community. Friday - Reflecting - with Steve Cordes: Opinions Editor Steve, retired non-profit leader and video blogger, offers views - his and others - on the week we’ve had. And free on Fridays: the ROUNDUP. Mike Donachie briefs you on the stories you need to know, gathered in one place. Regular analysis of the issues affecting London and the region. The Matt Brown Podcast will remain as a stand alone and it continues to be provided at no cost, thanks to our sponsor London Bicycle Café. And, if you like what you're hearing on The Matt Brown Podcast and want to help with expenses (so I lose less money producing this favourite hobby of mine), you could always visit TheMattBrownPodcast.com and make a small contribution by "buying me a. coffee" - Look for the button. Today's Buckle up is the first and only episode of Buckle Up that will be posted here on The Matt Brown Podcast and, every Monday morning, I’ll be hosting someone from our team or a recognizable person from our community, to give you the information you need to prepare for the week ahead. I’m excited about this new project. I hope you are too. With me today is my business partner, journalist Mike Donachie, so let’s go! Featuring: - Weather chat - Further nonsense - Construction hotspots - London’s newest municipal idea - growing our own trees - Ward 1 Race *Spoiler: There will be a loon call at the end of the episode. Mike hates it, I love it. Mike, why call it LOON if we can’t have a loon? Thanks for listening!

Mario Circelli  joins us to tell us everything we need to know about the 24th annual Forest London City Music week it's lauches tomorrow on Saturday June 6th and it runs for 13 days wrapping on June 14th. Thanks for listening and hope to see you at a performance between now and the middle of June.

Between now and election day, I hope to have many candidates join the show to give us a sense of why they’re running, and what their vision for London is. Today, we’re speaking with the candidates from Ward 1. Today, it's Ward 1 Incument, Hadleigh McAlister during the second segment of this episode. First up is challenger, Roger Caranci. London’s municipal election is underway. We’re still in the early days with the vote scheduled for October 26th. At the time of recording, there are 5 candidates running for mayor and 33 candidates running for one Ward seat or another. Based on these numbers, and considering that the 2022 election had a record setting low voter turnout, at just over 25 percent, there is a sense that the field of candidates running for office might be larger this time around, which could translate into greater interest and possibly higher voter turnout too. Naturally, a good deal of attention is directed to the City Wide Race which means it can be more difficult to find out about any given Ward Race. Here on Newsmakers, between now and election day, we’re going to take a look at as many of those Ward Races as possible, with specific attention given to the most contentious ones.For each of these episodes, all candidates running will be invited to participate and the questions will be fair and balanced. Thanks for listening!

What can the Urban League of London do for you? Luis Patricio, the volunteer president of the organization, is joining us for this next segment. Luis is an urbanist, an educator and a community organizer. He’s also a PhD candidate over at the Geography Department at Western University and a lecturer in the Governance Leadership and Ethics program at Huron University College. Luis is going to join us to give us a sense of how this volunteer organization supports neighbourhood associations right across the city during election periods AND outside of them, too. He’s here to tell us all about it. Thanks for listening!

The Municipal Election is upon us. What should we be looking between now and the end of June? At the beginning of May, nominations for the municipal election opened, and now, close to 30 campaigns for seats around the council horseshoe are underway. Journalist Mike Donachie is joining us to give us an update about what’s happening in these early days of London’s municipal election. On May 1st, when City Hall’s Election Office opened, almost two dozen Londoners lined up,some for hours, to file what’s called their “nomination papers”. What does that mean? Essentially, this is the final step a Londoner must take before officially becoming a candidate in this election. There is some leg work involved leading up to this step - including a requirement to collect 25 signatures from other Londoners who are “nominating them” to stand for office. The candidate must also provide additional information within this paper work to demonstrate they are eligible to run in this election. So, They stand in line, submit their forms, pay a fee - $100 to run as a Ward Councillor and $200 to run for mayor - and they’re off. With over 20 candidates filing to run for office on day one and a total of 27 at the recording of this episode and more today, things are happening. What does all of this activity and this number of candidates coming forward in these early days mean? Mike’s Donachie is here to tell us all about it. So let’s go. Thanks for listening! Also, Mike may be clairvoyant. Listen to what hew has to say about Susan Stephenson!

City Hall Watchers Steve Cordes and Devon Peacock are joining the show to take one last look back at the 2022 - 2026 term of London City Council. In this episode we take a look at the Good, the Bad and the Unexpected. By and large, this term of London City Council is coming to a close as our local government switches gears and the focus shifts to election ahead. If you're listening to this on, or after, May 1st - the race is on. Candidates are filing their nomination papers and throwing their hats in the ring. With the election upon us, this current City Council is coming closer and closer to the end of its term. Over the months to come, the topics our panelists speak about today are likely to be the topics that are top of mind for candidates, voters and pundits alike. Our panelists today have seen their fair share of elections. Steve Cordes is the recently Retired Chief Executive Officer of Youth Opportunities Unlimited and he’s also the brand new host of the YouTube Video Blog: “Community Matters”. Devon Peacock is a person you’re probably familiar with. He’s the host of 980 CFPL’s “The Morning Show” and, if you can believe it, he’s been talking politics - on and off the air - here in London for the past 25 years. Thanks for listening!