The Matt Brown Podcast

Tomorrow, The mayor’s “Home Ownership Incentive Plan” that he announced at the London Chamber of Commerce State of the City address this past January is coming back to the council’s Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, that’s council’s Committee of the Whole for a second kick at the can. The recommendation received a bit of a rough ride and a referral back to staff back in February, so we’ll have to stay tuned to see what happens next. Today’s episode is a portion of the podcast political panel that ran shortly after the chamber of commerce’ state...

You might know that London was designated as a UNESCO city of music back in 2021. The initiative is currently run out of the Tourism London Office. Ward 6 City Councillor Sam Trosow is going to join us to tell us how he thinks the first 5 years of the program have gone and he’s going to tell us what he wants to see next. UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It was formed in 1945 and has 194 members states today. It manages the World Heritage Centre (which designates World Heritage Sites), promotes education for all, supports scientific research an...

Homelessness, a towering tower, campaign donations, wider drive ways and a look ahead to the early days of the 2026 campaign. This episode is a milestone episode of sorts - depending how you count it, we’ve just passed 30 episodes for this podcast. As we head into spring, this podcast is making its way towards its first anniversary - we’ll celebrate that at the end of June. I don’t want to count any chickens at this point, but surpassing 30 episodes, with a growing audience is something most start up shows like this experience. That’s all because of you and many...

Mechele Tebrake is community care worker who has 23 years experience working the front lines of the homelessness crisis. Melissa Schembri is a frontline worker who has been doing this work since 2018. There are over 2000 Londoners who are experiencing homelessness here in London and that number grows each and every month. People like Mechele and Melissa provide support to these individuals who are living rough. We talked a bit about this during our first segment - At a recent city council meeting, members of council were considering a number of policy changes that a group of 78 frontline workers say would have...

Rachel Macaulay serves as the Vice President of Philanthropy for Ronald McDonald House Southwestern Ontario. I don’t know if you are aware of, have volunteered for, or been supported by Ronald McDonald House. If you have, you will know just how impactful the work that they do is. Over the years, and from time to time, I’ve had a few opportunities to volunteer with various groups there - working in the kitchen to prepare meals for the families who find themselves living at Ronald McDonald House. In the kitchen, you’re kind of behind the scenes - you see th...

Rachel Macaulay serves as the Vice President of Philanthropy for Ronald McDonald House Southwestern Ontario. I don’t know if you are aware of, have volunteered for, or been supported by Ronald McDonald House. If you have, you will know just how impactful the work that they do is. Over the years, and from time to time, I’ve had a few opportunities to volunteer with various groups there - working in the kitchen to prepare meals for the families who find themselves living at Ronald McDonald House. In the kitchen, you’re kind of behind the scenes - you see th...

UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It was formed in 1945 and has 194 members states today. It manages the World Heritage Centre (which designates World Heritage Sites), promotes education for all, supports scientific research and protects cultural diversity. Back in 2004, UNESCO introduced a Creative Cities Network (UCCN). This network highlights cities that place creativity and cultural industries at the center of their development strategies and strategic plans. The "City of Music" designation is one of seven creative fields recognized by this network, which also includes: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature and Media Arts. There...

Mike Donachie is a communications leader and journalist who’s been an engaged Londoner for many years. He’s a former City Hall reporter for the Metro London newspaper, later serving as director of communications for Libro Credit Union .These days he’s taken on a new public interest reporting project locally focused on his old beat - London City Council. You can find it over on Substack. He's joining us on the show today , to tell us all about it.

Lieutenant-General (retired) Peter Devlin finished his military career as the commander of the Canadian Army. When he retired from military service in 2013, Fanshawe college brought him on board and he’s been serving as their president ever since. Under his leadership, Fanshawe College experienced significant growth. These days, the college, along with all other Ontario colleges, is experiencing a budget crunch. Peter joins us to tell us all about it. He’s got some ideas about how to fix this too.

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, Housing and Development, Homelessness and The "Big Announcement" / Final Thoughts. However you listen to this episode, I hope you enjoy it!

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, Housing and Development, Homelessness and The "Big Announcement" / Final Thoughts. However you listen to this episode, I hope you enjoy it!

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, Housing and Development, Homelessness and The "Big Announcement" / Final Thoughts. However you listen to this episode, I hope you enjoy it!

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, Housing and Development, Homelessness and The "Big Announcement" / Final Thoughts. However you listen to this episode, I hope you enjoy it!

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, Housing and Development, Homelessness and The "Big Announcement" / Final Thoughts. However you listen to this episode, I hope you enjoy it!

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, Housing and Development, Homelessness and The "Big Announcement" / Final Thoughts. However you listen to this episode, I hope you enjoy it!

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, Housing and Development, Homelessness and The "Big Announcement" / Final Thoughts. However you listen to this special episode, I hope you enjoy it!

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 now the host of a video blog you can find on YouTube called, “Community Matters”. Carol Dyck, is a Doctoral student in the faculty of law at Western University, Carol is also a...

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 Huron Heights to Argyle. From Sunningdale to Old East Village to Wortley and Westminster - and all neighbourhoods in between. It can mean better roads with fewer potholes a...

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 the criminal justice system. Y.O.U. leads in social entrepreneurial endeavors too - providing employment opportunities and on the job training for youth, while, at the same time, having a positive impact on th...

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 supports people as they take responsibility for their actions and transition from incarceration back to living in our community after serving time for a criminal conviction. You’re going to hea...