The Matt Brown Podcast

Episode 26, the first ever political panel was a looooong one. Guest panelists Mojdeh Azad, Steve Cordes, Carol Dyck and Paul Hubert joined the show to provide analysis of the Chamber of Commerce 2026 State of the City Address. Some listeners have reached out and asked that it be broken down into 6 segments: First Impressions, The Cumulative 4 Year Tax Increase, The London Police Service Budget, H...

Episode 26, the first ever political panel was a looooong one. Guest panelists Mojdeh Azad, Steve Cordes, Carol Dyck and Paul Hubert joined the show to provide analysis of the Chamber of Commerce 2026 State of the City Address. Some listeners have reached out and asked that it be broken down into 6 segments: First Impressions, The Cumulative 4 Year Tax Increase, The London Police Service Budget, H...

Episode 26, the first ever political panel was a looooong one. Guest panelists Mojdeh Azad, Steve Cordes, Carol Dyck and Paul Hubert joined the show to provide analysis of the Chamber of Commerce 2026 State of the City Address. Some listeners have reached out and asked that it be broken down into 6 segments: First Impressions, The Cumulative 4 Year Tax Increase, The London Police Service Budget, H...

The Panel: Mojdeh Azad (formerly Mojdeh Cox) is the Founder and Consultant at Cox & Co. With Mojdeh’s name change, she tells us you can watch for a new brand reveal of her consulting company soon. Mojdeh is also a longstanding activist and prominent voice on equity here in London and right across Canada. Steve Cordes, is the recently retired long time CEO for Youth Opportunities Unlimited. He is n...

It’s been said that a city’s downtown is its calling card to the world and London is no exception. Here's why - geographically, London’s core represents less than 1% of the city’s overall space - and at the same time, the core is responsible for over 5% of overall assessment. It’s a closed economic ecosystem. When the core thrives there is more money generated for greener parks from Westmount to H...

Steve Cordes led Youth Opportunities Unlimited, a local not profit here in London that serves youth from London in a myriad of ways. The growth the organization experienced under Steve’s decades long stint as CEO is nothing short of remarkable. Y.O.U. provides young people from London who are living complicated lives with things like housing supports as they navigate social services and sometimes...

Maybe you're familiar with the term, “hiding in plain sight”, in other words something is right in front of our nose, but it blends in so well that we don’t even see it. That’s often the case with the programs and services that St. Leonard’s Community Services provides. Today you're going to hear about terms like: half way houses, jail and prison, parole and probation and how the organization supp...

Graham Henderson is joining us today to talk about a draft economic development strategy that has been developed by Deloitte and is moving through the council review and approval process, right now. The draft strategy includes 5 pillars” 1. Talent and Innovation 2. Investment Attraction and Retention 3. Regional Collaboration 4. Transportation and Access 5. System Optimization Naturally, Graham an...

Back in December, London’s mayor, along with other “big city mayors" from across the province called on Doug Ford’s government to declare a State of Emergency to address the homelessness crisis, while at the same time London City Council purchased 60 tiny homes that could be seen as representing one of the main thrust of City Hall's Winter Response. Crews have started to assemble them on a site ne...

London City Council recently approved their 4th and final budget. There is a lot to talk about as we head into a Municipal Election year. Joining us to talk about it today are panelists Jared Zaifman, a past member of London City Council and the CEO for the London Homebuilders Association, and Kelly Ziegner, the current CEO and President of the Elgin Middlesex United Way. This past week it was ann...

In municipal politics there’s no such thing as a small issue and whatever the issue is, it’s guaranteed to be local. Today we’re going to speak with a representative from a brand new Old North neighbourhood advocacy group. It's called A.C.T.I.O.N. My guest, Dr. Colin Evans, is a memeber of this group and he has a lot to say about cut through traffic in his neighbourhood and neighbourhoods and righ...

This is an encore edition of the 2nd episode of The Matt Brown Podcast. It's timely because winter is here, earlier than expected. People are living rough and we're experiencing a cold snap. The Mayor, along with other "big city mayors" from across Ontario is calling for the Province to declare a State of Emergency to address this. In this episode, Chris Moss, the Executive Director of London Care...

You likely know that London City Council gave itself a hefty wage increase and it will go into effect just over a year from today. It was a close vote, 6 councillors voted against this move, 3 changing their vote to Nay during the final debate. As we head into an election, is this one of the first bona fide, city wide issues that will enter into the debates? The majority of sitting council members...

This is an encore presentation of Episode 13, when Councillor Corrine Rahman joined us to outline why she was not in support of the 35% increase in salary that council was considering at the time. It provides good context for next week's episode - Dr. Martin Horak, the chair of the council resource review task force, will join us to explain the process the task force followed and how they ultimate...

This episode is another abridged version of Newmakers - the Show I host over on Rogers TV. The topic today? Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week and we’ll also take a deep dive into all things London Fire Department and what they do to keep us safe, every single day.

Today, is Remembrance Day. We’re going to focus on our Canadian Veterans. Specifically, we are going to take a look at The Remember November 11 Association and our local chapter of Homes for Heroes. These are two of many local organizations that support, honour and advocate for veterans living in London and area. If you've tuned in before, you'll know this podcast is sponsored by London Bicycle Ca...

London City Councillor salary could increase by over 35% Their overall budget might go from just under $5 million to almost $8 million - a 50% increase - and this number does not include the cost of City Staff who supports them, or the mayor’s budget as well. Right now a city councillor makes $67,420 per year and the mayor makes $163 thousand dollars and change. The task force is recommending a pr...

This episode is an abridged version of a Newsmakers episode - the show I host on Rogers Television. Shannon LayHay is the brand new Executive Director for the Humane Society of London and Middlesex - An organization that has a long history and one that has experienced a lot of positive change over the past little while. You’re likely familiar with the name and the brand of this not-for-profit, but...

Erik D’Haene died of a drug overdose in 2020. At the time, he was living in Vancouver - but - that event wasn’t his whole life and his surviving siblings, including his brother, Donald D’Haene are telling his story to the World by way of a documentary film called, Interpreting Erik. Erik was an artist and he left a lifetime of artifacts - writings, sketches and artwork that Donald incorporated int...

Kelly Ziegner, CEO of United Way Middlesex Elgin joins me to tell us how financial stress is affecting our most vulnerable - well beyond their wallets. She’s here today to tell us about an alarming, Canada wide survey that has just been completed by Léger & United Way Centraide and was released today. It shows how many Canadians are just one unexpected event away from a financial crisis away.

We have 2 guests today. Both of them are long time veterans with our London Police Service and they are here to tell us about the work that they do in their current divisions. One topic is a favourite one for Londoners to talk and - sometimes - complain about. The other is a program that might be news to you. There are multiple career paths that a member of the London Police Service can take - it’...

Graham Henderson, CEO of the London Chamber of Commerce joins me to discuss how big investments in Music Arts and Culture can make our local economy stronger while at the same time making London a great place to live. He’s studied this for years and has "walked his talk". In Toronto, he developed a Music Arts and Culture Strategy that has been implemented in large Cities around the world. He argue...

Presently, a small but important portion of the Medway Trail system is in question. Residents from the Attawandaron Neighbourhood (a neighbourhood in Northwest London, just off Wonderland Road) attended a planning committee meeting last week and lobbied for the Type 3 trail (an accessible trail) that is planned for the City property behind their homes and abutting Medway Valley be stopped. Remarka...

Jim Graham is a business owner, community volunteer, commercial pilot and he is the founding and immediate past chair of the board of directors for Airshow London which was established as a not for profit organization in 2015. You'll learn some interesting history, fun facts, how they kept the show going during the pandemic, what in store this year as they celebrate their 10th Anniversary.