As singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer prepares to receive the symbolic key to the City of Burlington — largely in recognition of her leadership in the fight against the quarry expansion on Mount Nemo — the fate of the quarry now rests with the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT).

Harmer will be honoured at a ceremony on April 16 at 7 p.m. at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. This recognition follows her receipt of the 2025 Juno Awards Humanitarian Award in March, which celebrates an exceptional Canadian artist or industry leader whose humanitarian work has made a positive impact both locally and globally.

In 2005, Harmer co-founded Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (PERL) to oppose the expansion of a massive crushed rock quarry on Mount Nemo, located on the Niagara Escarpment — a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. As noted on the Juno website, in 2012, PERL played a crucial role during an Ontario Joint Board hearing, successfully preventing Lafarge/Nelson Aggregates from destroying vital habitats, endangered species, wetlands, and critical drinking water sources.

“This award is a joint acceptance,” Harmer said of her 2025 Juno Humanitarian Award. Her deep connection to the area is personal, as her parents own land near the quarry, which borders the Mount Nemo Conservation Area where Harmer spent her childhood.

The quarry, owned by Nelson Aggregates, is located on the Niagara Escarpment in rural north Burlington, along 2 Sideroad, between Cedar Springs Road and Guelph Line. The current proposal before the OLT represents the company’s second attempt in 20 years to expand its operations. The OLT hearing, which began on March 4, is set for 60 days, and Harmer was among the many observers attending the proceedings on day 22. Throughout the hearings, testimony will be presented from experts supporting Nelson Aggregates, local municipalities, and the advocates fighting against the quarry’s expansion.

Harmer, who wrote the song Escarpment Blues to raise awareness of this issue, became involved through her mother and remains passionate about protecting the natural world.