Who is Debbie Vernon?
Family Life
Debbie has a long family history in Muskoka that dates back to a time when her great-grandparents came to settle on Lake Rosseau known as “Shennamere” when they purchased a farm there in the late 1800's. Born in Bracebridge Debbie grew up on Brackenrig Bay near Port Carling where her grandfather owned and operated Penney’s Sawmill for several decades.
Debbie has had a long career working for people with disabilities both in Ontario and Alberta, helping them move from institutions back to their home communities. Her late husband Greg Vernon was sole proprietor of Vernon’s Hobby & Games where she occasionally helped in his retail store on Manitoba Street.
Together Debbie and Greg raised two sons. Bracebridge is a wonderful community to raise a family and through her sons, Debbie was involved with Third Bracebridge Sea Scouts as Committee Chair and served on the parent council for BMLSS when her youngest son attended high school there.
In her downtime, Debbie enjoys camping, canoeing, photography, downhill skiing, singing in a community rock choir, and spending time in her home of 34 years on the Muskoka River.
Real Estate Career
In 1999 Debbie obtained her real estate licence and is registered with the Real Estate Council of Ontario. Debbie is Past President (2006) of her local real estate board, the Muskoka Haliburton Association of Realtor’s® and served as a Director for the Lakelands Association of REALTORS® for several years. She was chair of the Government Relations Committee which required meeting with local MPP’s and MP’s to discuss realtor issues pertaining to home ownership.
She was President (2018) for the Ontario Realtor’s Care Foundation® whose mandate was to grant funds donated by realtor members of the Ontario Real Estate Association to shelter-based organizations in local communities throughout Ontario, such as food banks, women’s shelters and hospice.
Volunteer Work
Debbie was a founding Director of the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed until 2020 and a member of the Muskoka Watershed Council for several years.
Recently Debbie was involved with a group of institutional survivors (Remember Every Name) to help create the Huronia Regional Centre Survivor’s Memorial Monument at the HRC Cemetery in Orillia and a website to document this event and survivor’s stories. She is also part of a documentary “Unloved - Huronia’s Forgotten Children”.
