This spring, Peterborough residents Sue Sauvé and partner Ian Attridge are donating to support GreenUP’s native plant propagation program. Their $10,000 donation comes with a challenge to the community to match their generosity.

Together with Sue and Ian, the goal is to raise a total of $20,000 to support Ecology Park.

Sue has been a long-time supporter of GreenUP, and she and Ian are known to many for their commitment to environmental initiatives across the community. They are making this donation because now, more than ever, there is an urgency to invest in the resilience of the environment.

“Supporting GreenUP’s Ecology Park to grow native trees and plants is a tangible, local action that I can take towards increasing biodiversity and mitigating climate change, and now, to support our urban and rural forest canopies to recover from the ice storm,” says Sue.

A biodiversity crisis is unfolding across the globe. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports that populations of all fauna are in decline. Even species that are not endangered are seeing population reductions, with average animal populations at just 68 per cent of what they were in 1970.

The climate crisis is bringing more severe storms, as well as destructive pests like the emerald ash borer. In the face of devastating damage done to the local canopy by the derecho of 2022, coupled by the recent ice storm, one could be reluctant to replant, yet trees are needed now more than ever.

Trees are habitat. They improve air and water, cool with their shade, support complex ecosystems, and are the original effective means of sequestering carbon.

The Peterborough region needs strong, native trees like oak and ironwood; quick-growing trees that can rapidly capture carbon from the air, like hackberry and willow; trees that feed pollinators, such as basswood and black cherry; and rare southern species like sassafras and blue beech.

The saying goes that the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.

In 2024, GreenUP planted over 1,600 trees. With the generous support of the community, GreenUP will plant even more in 2025. Together this action will ensure that the beautiful species of native plants and trees that call this region home can thrive.

Through their donation, Sue and Ian empower GreenUP not just to restore what was lost, but to ensure a healthier, more sustainable future for all living beings in the region.

GreenUP Ecology Park will use the funds in the following ways:

• Build air pruning beds and plant cages to grow native species
• Offer more volunteer opportunities by providing staff capacity and buying additional hand tools and safety equipment for planting and for invasive species removal
• Replant rare and regionally significant native species to replace trees that were damaged by the ice storm.

Each year, the Ecology Park Native Plant and Tree Nursery makes over 200 species available to the community. GreenUP has been investing for years in the capacity to grow native plants and trees locally.

This year, the GreenUP native plant propagation program has seen more plants growing in-house than ever before. Currently 55 native species are taking root in GreenUP’s downtown office, including American chestnut and black oak. The Ecology Park plant propagation project aims to grow over 5,000 plants from seeds and cuttings.

“In the wake of natural disasters like the recent ice storm, it’s critical that we restore our natural environment, not just for the health of our ecosystems, but for future generations of people and all beings.” Ian says. “Caring for the land is a vital part of our shared responsibilities.”

As a consultant-instructor at Trent University’s School of the Environment, and through his volunteer work with local environmental and Indigenous ally groups, Ian continues to demonstrate the close connection between reconciliation and environmental protection.

One of the teachings of the First Peoples is to care for all our relations, who include the land, waters, plants, and animals. Spending time with plants is one way to learn about these relations. Learn what they look like, learn their names, learn where they like to grow, and what likes to grow with them.

“With our donation, we are hoping to be the catalysts for increased funding for GreenUP Ecology Park so they can continue to do the work that they do so well,” says Sue.

Support GreenUP in growing native plants and increasing community capacity for conservation. Donate today at greenup.on.ca/donate-now/ to help match Sue and Ian, protect biodiversity locally, and ensure GreenUP reaches their $20,000 goal. If a donation isn’t possible, please consider sharing the fundraising campaign on social media. Find GreenUP @ptbogreenup.

With the seemingly never-ending winter finally behind us, Peterborough residents are eagerly anticipating the return of a new spring tradition: the East City Neighbourhood Yard Sale.

Eager participants and yard sale connoisseurs have been asking about it for months, says organizer Ashley Bonner.

“Some people are starting to spring clean, and they’ve marked their calendars,” she says. “Neighbours are ready to jump in and help out because they love it. It’s a chance to connect with other community members.”

On Saturday, May 10 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., East City will become a bargain hunter’s paradise as residents host individual yard sales full of furniture, books, toys, artwork, clothing, and who knows what other hidden gems. A map of all participating locations will be available leading up to the event date.

This year’s sale will mark the fourth time Bonner has hosted the “beautiful family event” over the Mother’s Day weekend. When she first organized it in 2021, she did so to pay tribute to her mother Brenda Bonner, who had passed away the year prior.

“She was a diehard yard saler, and she would actually map out the yard sales prior to going out so she could get the most amount done in the shortest time on a Saturday morning,” she says. “The whole map feature is a tribute to her. It was just something we always did together, so this was a good way of honouring her.”

Though the first event saw about 20 homes getting involved, over the years, it has continued to grow with last year’s event featuring 100 yard sales. Given the eager early registrations, Bonner anticipates this year to have just as large of a turnout — as of the date of this story, over 75 houses have registered.

“It’s all spread out, so the streets are just packed, and it’s bustling over here in East City,” she says. “We might get 100 people registered, but there’s always extra people who just set up on the day too.”

Most of the yard sales are typically set up on properties located between Maria Street and Parkhill Road, though there are always a few stragglers like those near Beavermead Park or farther north on Armour Road.

For many people, the annual event is also an opportunity to connect with neighbours. Bonner has heard from participants in past years that hosting a sale gave them the chance to speak with neighbours they had never spoken to before despite years of living on the same street.

“These yard sales are nodes of contact and connection and that is really the core of building a resilient community,” she says. “Neighbours get out, they’re shopping, they see who’s on their street, and they connect with their direct neighbours. I do find this has a ripple effect when it comes to connecting during crisis or other big things where neighbours rely on each other.”

Many participants also use the yard sale as an opportunity to support the community by hosting fundraisers for local organizations. Last year, Leigh Ramsay’s sale raised about $800 for the YES Shelter for Youth and Families.

The Ashburnham Memorial Stewardship Group will similarly have a booth set up again this year to provide information and take donations, while the Quaker Park Tennis Club will host their annual garage and plant sale fundraiser for the organization on the same afternoon (the club is currently seeking plants to be donated for the cause.)

Bonner has also invited businesses on Hunter Street East to partake by offering sales or other events in store.

“It’s a really good chance for businesses to meet their neighbours as well while they’re out shopping,” says Bonner. “It really goes back to having that tight community where the more we know the business, and the business knows us, there’s a tightness and trust.”

Bonner adds that the local businesses have the chance to take advantage of visitors coming to Peterborough for the neighbourhood yard sale. In past years, bargain hunters have come from outside the city and even from neighbouring regions.

“There’s not a lot of neighbourhood yard sales of this magnitude,” she notes.

“All those diehard yard salers in other cities are scanning the internet for what’s in their local area that they could go to, and if they see 90 to 100 yard sales, people know it’s worth it to come for the day.”

Bonner says her late mother would have been thrilled with how many homes are participating in the community-run event.

“I could have never imagined that it would grow to be this size and have so much of a positive impact,” she says. “She would have loved this yard sale. This would have been her dream.”

East City residents who want to host a yard sale and have their address included on the map distributed to the public can complete a registration form.

For more information about the event, including when the yard sale map is available, visit the East City Ptbo Facebook page or email eastcityptbo@gmail.com.

With almost no debate, Peterborough city council has voted to endorse a staff report proposing a 60 per cent raise for the mayor and a 52 per cent raise councillors for the next term of council.

Meeting as general committee on Tuesday night (April 22), council voted almost unanimously in favour of the report from Richard Freymond, the city’s commissioner or finance and corporate services, which recommends a “reset” of base compensation for council.

Comparing 2023 pay rates for mayors and councillors in 14 other single, upper, and lower-tier municipalities across Ontario, the report recommends that remuneration for Peterborough city council be based on the 75th percentile of the 2023 pay rates in those municipalities.

When adjusted for inflation using CUPE collective bargaining settlements, that would result in compensation for the mayor of $147,631 in 2026, an increase of 59.8 per cent over what the mayor will be paid in 2025, and $54,991 for each councillor in 2026, an increase of 52 per cent over what each councillor will be paid in 2025.

When the item came forward for consideration, councillor Gary Baldwin made a motion to defer the report.

“I’m not comfortable with some of the comparables in the report,” Baldwin said, referring to the list of comparator municipalities. “I’d like it to go back to Mr. Freymond to see if we could bring perhaps a few more comparables and have a redo of this, and bring it back for council’s consideration.”

Councillor Keith Riel immediately called the question on Baldwin’s motion, a procedural move to cut off any discussion and bring the motion to an immediate vote.

After voting 8-3 in support of calling the question (councillors Baldwin, Andrew Beamer, and Kevin Duguay voted against it), councillors voted 11-2 against Baldwin’s motion to defer the report, with only Baldwin and Mayor Jeff Leal voting in favour.

Councillors then discussed the report itself, with only Duguay and Baldwin making comments.

“I know this will be and has been a sensitive subject with some community members, but not all,” Duguay said. “This (council’s) remuneration is not at par with comparable municipalities having comparable and similar responsibilities.”

Duguay added that, if additional comparator municipalities were included in the report as Baldwin requested, “we would have probably found more of the same.”

“(We would have) probably found that mayors and councillors in medium-sized, small-sized city, large cities are as a rule generally paid more than this council is paid,” Duguay said.

In his comments, Baldwin said his “greatest concern” was moving to a 75th percentile and doing so in a single year.

“A 50th percentile I think is the median, and I think that’s where Peterborough fits,” he said. “It’s not the fact that I was in opposition to the recommendations (to council), it was getting to the 75th percentile in the first year.”

Baldwin added that he thinks the increase should be “staged over a four-year period of time.”

With no further discussion, council voted 10-1 in favour of the report, with only Baldwin voting against it.

In addition to the pay increase, which would only take effect for the 2026-2030 term of council starting in December 2026, the report also recommends that compensation for the mayor and councillors be increased each December for the remainder of council’s term, equal to the inflationary increase provided to CUPE staff bargaining groups.

The report also recommends a 17.4 per cent increase for the vehicle/transportation allowance for both the mayor and councillors, from $5,112 to $6,000 for the mayor and from to $2,556 to $3,000 for each councillor.

Items endorsed by general committee will be considered by council for final approval next Monday (April 28).