Small Town, Downtown: A Community Conversation

Join Richard Peddie, Lloyd Alter and Chief Mary Duckworth of Caldwell First Nation for a conversation about community building, growth and sustainability.

River Bookshop will be on hand selling copies of Lloyd Alter’s publications: Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle (2021), and The Story of Upfront Carbon (2024), as well as Richard Peddie’s new publication, Great Small Towns of Ontario (2024).

“The proven best practices for communities of all sizes are out there if any one takes the time to learn about them.  From safe streets to place-making to addressing climate change they can be adapted to fit large cities or small towns” – Richard Peddie

Richard Peddie, originally from Windsor, ON is a best-selling author, Speaker, Director, and Community Builder. He was recognized by his alma mater, University of Windsor with an honorary doctorate in 2001. Peddie’s successful 40-year career in business, working with sector-leading brands, was driven by his clear leadership vision, and strong corporate values. He brings that same energy, attention and values that brought him success as the blockbuster president of Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment to his current projects. Becoming a great leader, whether at the corporate or community level, has been a lifelong objective for Richard.
In August 2020 he opened the River Bookshop in Amherstburg, followed by Evelyn’s Candy House and White Woods Home.

Peddie’s best-selling autobiography, Dream Job, was followed by 21 Leadership Lessons. This spring, his newest book, Great Small Towns of Ontario was released.

Lloyd Alter has been an architect, real estate developer, prefab housing entrepreneur, and writer. He teaches Sustainable Design at Toronto Metropolitan University. He has contributed to many publications, including The Guardian, Green Building Advisor, Corporate Knights and Azure Magazines, and was a contributor and editor at Treehugger.com for 15 years. Lloyd is the author of Living the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle, from New Society Publishers. His new book, The story of Upfront Carbon: How a Life of Just Enough Offers a Way Out of the Climate Crisis has just been released. He currently writes a popular Substack newsletter, Carbon Upfront!

Chief Mary Duckworth, (Madidoog-KinNya-Eyojic – Spirits are all around me) is a proud member of Caldwell First Nation whose ancestors have inhabited the North Shore of Lake Erie since time immoral. Caldwell First Nation,  (also known as Zaaga’iganininwag) which means” People of the Lake”) have an extensive territory centered on Point Pelee and Pelee Island and extends west to the Detroit River; east to the eastern end of Lake Erie at Long Point; north to the Sydenham and Thames Rivers; and south to the American border, and beyond. Five First Nation Governments make up what is known as the Three Fires Confederacy compromising the Potawatomi, Odawa, and Ojibway and spanning Southwestern Ontario.

Selected Chief in September of 2021, she has worked with Council members to plan the newest urban reserve in Southwestern Ontario which will enable the Nation’s members to return to the territories they were forcibly removed from over two hundred years and begin to live in community again beginning this August. Chief Duckworth alongside her Council Members and hard-working team has created economic prosperity for the Caldwell First Nation with the successful launch of the busiest and largest gas stations in Southern Ontario: Caldwell Gas & Variety located at 1032 Mersea Road. A marina and boardwalk near Leamington where all our welcome to enjoy the beauty of the gifts from our Mother Earth was also created in 2023.

Chief Duckworth has a Master’s-Degree in Social work, with extensive experience in Justice, Corrections and Probation. She spent 17 years working at Walpole Island First Nation in their Family Services sector on Child Welfare and Youth probation. Chief Duckworth enjoys meeting new people, collaborating for good causes, teaching, serving her people and making a positive impact on the lives of all the people and beings in the natural world who reside in Caldwell First Nation Territory.