Buckle Up, September 28, 2026
Good morning, London. I’m Matt Brown and this is Buckle Up, sponsored by the Hamilton Road BIA. It’s Monday, September 28th and this is your weekly update about all things London brought to you by London Ontario Online News, that’s The LOON for short.
If you’ve listened before, you know that every Monday morning, I co-host this program with a member of our team or a special guest, giving you the information you need to prepare for the week ahead.
Listen to this week’s Episode:
This week is a little different because I wanted to highlight something we’ve been hinting at over here at The Loon for the past couple of months.
This coming Saturday, October 3rd we are launching some new content. It’s a show that I’ve been hosting independently for just over a year. It’s called The Matt Brown Podcast and it’s about all things London…and maybe some other stuff too.
You may have noticed that the 50 or so episodes published to date “migrated”1 over here to The Loon very recently. Many of these episodes are abridged, audio only, versions of Newsmakers. That’s the show I host for Rogers tv every other week. Which means, moving forward, you can expect a new podcast episode to drop right here at least every other Saturday.
The October 3rd episode is going to be a good one. Veteran journalists Christine Taleski and Bob Smith join the show to provide analysis of the Rogers tv Mayoral debate. If you subscribe to The Loon, it will arrive in your inbox on Saturday around 8am. If you haven’t subscribed just yet, maybe today’s your day.
And, if you want to get up to speed on the debate between now and this coming Saturday, it’s airing regularly on Rogers tv right now and you can also find it on YouTube here. The Loon was thrilled to be asked to write and asked the questions for this 90 minute production. Thanks to Jeremy Parking, Christine Taleski and everyone over at Rogers tv for that.
Saturday is the first Matt Brown Podcast available exclusively on The Loon. Between now and then you can find links to previously published episodes of the show here at: readtheloon.com. Click on the podcast button located at the top the main page, or if you make it to the end of this post, you’ll find a few recommended episodes that are relevant to the municipal election that you might want to check out too.
It’s a rare solo Buckle Up today2. To catch what else is happening in the news, you can visit Mike Donachie’s latest Round Up here.
The Urban League’s all candidate meetings that are taking place across London, right now.
You can learn more about these meetings here. Missed the date or can’t make the meeting? Rogers tv will be broadcasting each of them regularly as election day approaches. The Loon has been thrilled to partner with the Urban League this year, we wrote many of the questions and have been helping to promote these events. For a grass roots, not-for-profit, volunteer led organization, they really have gone above and beyond with this initiative.
Within the next little bit, all 14 Ward All Candidate Meetings will be posted on the Rogers tv YouTube channel. Here are the ward meetings you can watch right now:
Construction:
It’s a rare week, here in London. There are no new construction projects to be announced. You can keep up to date on these by visiting London.ca and then click on “The News” button. It’s a the top of the main page.
What’s Happening in London this week?:
Music & Concerts
Lyle Lovett and his Small Large Band - Canada Life Place - Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at 7:00 PM.
Theatre & Performing Arts
School of Rock - Grand Theatre - September 22–October 3
The Great Gatsby - Palace Theatre - September 24–October 4
Festivals & Community Events
Ontario Culture Days 2026 - Multiple community hubs and venues across London - September 18 – October 4, 2026
Culture, History & Museums
A Night of Reflection: Honouring Truth & Reconciliation - The Museum of Ontario Archaeology - September 28, 2026.
Bicentennial Courthouse Tour - The Old Courthouse - September 30, 2026.
Sports
London Knights vs. North Bay Battalion - Canada Life Place - October 2, 2026, at 7:00 PM.
Source: LondonTourism.ca
Sponsor Highlight: Hamilton Road BIA
Thanks, as always, to show sponsor Hamilton Road BIA. The Hamilton Road Business Improvement Area (BIA) develops, advocates, promotes, and invests in the unique community in; Economic Development, Beautification and Marketing, and Promotion while simultaneously honouring the rich history and diversity of the Hamilton Road area.
Buckle Up is Sponsored by Hamilton Road BIA
www.hamroad.com
Supporting independent local journalism in our community
The Loon (London Ontario Online News) lineup
New content every day.
We’ve teamed up to send you a new feature every weekday:
Monday - Buckle Up - podcast with Matt Brown
SPONSORED BY HAMILTON ROAD BIATuesday - Tours with Cedric Richards
SPONSORED BY LONDON BICYCLE CAFÉWednesday - City Hall Notes by Mike Donachie
SPONSORED BY SPERO LAWThursday - the Forest City Arts and Culture Roundup by Diana Tamblyn
SPONSORED BY DOWNTOWN LONDONFriday - Reflections with Steve Cordes
SPONSORED BY OLD EAST VILLAGE BIA
Also on Fridays: the local news ROUNDUP.
Every other Saturday: The Matt Brown Podcast. It’s the show about all things local, and maybe some other stuff too. SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY AVAILABLE.
Recommended Podcast Episodes for you:
As promised - Listed below are some recommended listens, focused on the municipal election, for you. You can see all 56 episodes published to date here.
Dr. Martin Horak provides analysis of London's 2026 Municipal Election
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 th…
Mike Donachie joins to provide an update on London's Municipal Election
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!
The Municipal Election, What the Urban League of London Can Do For You.
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 Hur…
The Good, The Bad and The Unexpected - City Council 2022 - 2026 (Featuring Panelists Steve Cordes and Devon Peacock)
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 electi…
Who should run London's Music Office? Councillor Sam Trosow has an idea.
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…
Mechele and Melissa tell us about working the front lines of the Homelessness Crisis
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…
It's a record setting, 24.5%, 4 Year Property Tax Increase. Jared Zaifman and Kelly Ziegner join me to discuss this and what it might mean as we head into an election year.
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 Mi…
*Updated: Councillor Corrine Rahman joins us to talk about a significant raise council is likely to approve tomorrow
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 an…
Jay Menard, the immediate past chair of the committee that provides advice to council about accessibility issues, joins me to discuss the plan to make the Medway Valley pathway system more accessible and how a portion of the plan is at risk - right now..
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 a…
The Matt Brown Podcast, Episode 2: London Cares and the Homelessness Crisis
Chris Moss, the Executive Director of London Cares joins us to share information about the organization she leads and how London Cares works with other Community Partners to address London's Homelessness Crisis. Listen for "Housing is Healthcare". Please reach out and let me know what you think: TheMattBrownPodcast@gmail.com Thanks for listening!
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Dad joke.
How do you say, “I have a terrible head cold.” without saying, “ I have a terrible head cold”. The audio portion of this post is a little shorter this week because of that. Thanks for understanding - we’ll have a great guest in the co-host chair next week.