The Red Deer Regional Health Foundation is honored to announce a historic $10 million donation that will bring life – saving cardiac care to Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.

This extraordinary gift, generously contributed by Joan Donald, John and Heather Donald, and Peter and Kathy Lacey, is the largest donation in the foundation’s history and will play a critical role in establishing the previously announced interim cardiac catheterization lab at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.

“For too long, Central Albertans have faced an unacceptable reality—if you suffer a heart attack in Red Deer, you must be transported to Calgary or Edmonton for the care you need,” said Manon Therriault, CEO of the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation. “And when every second counts, that distance can mean the difference between life and death.

Thanks to this transformational gift, more lives will be saved, and more families will be spared the fear of waiting for a transfer.”

The impact of this generosity is profound. With the interim cardiac catheterization lab, it is estimated that 160 lives will be saved in the 5 years leading up to the establishment of a permanent lab. Patients will receive timely, specialized care closer to home, significantly improving outcomes and reducing the burden on families.

“A gift like this does not happen by chance—it takes vision, leadership, and an unwavering commitment to community,” Manon added. “Joan, John, Heather, Peter, and Kathy have set a powerful example of what philanthropy can achieve. Their generosity is not just a donation; it is a legacy of life-saving care for generations to come.”

This milestone underscores the crucial role of philanthropy in advancing healthcare. The Red Deer Regional Health Foundation extends its deepest gratitude to the Donald and Lacey families for their remarkable generosity and commitment to a healthier future for Central Alberta.

Former Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools trustee Monique LaGrange

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

The rebuke of the CBC comes in response to a September 2023 story the outlet published about Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools trustee Monique LaGrange, whose job was threatened for opposing gender ideology on social media.

The watchdog for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has ruled that the state-funded outlet expressed a “blatant lack of balance” in its covering of a Catholic school trustee who opposed the LGBT agenda being foisted on children.

“The article violated the principle of balance outlined in CBC’s Journalistic Standards And Practices,” CBC Ombudswoman Maxime Bertrand wrote, according to a January 29 article by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Bertrand added that the CBC’s coverage of the story provided “a perspective that can only be described as one-sided.”  

Bertrand’s rebuke of the CBC comes in response to a September 2023 story the outlet published about Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools trustee Monique LaGrange. LaGrange faced dismissal from her post for sharing to social media an image showing kids in Nazi Germany waving swastika flags during a parade alongside a photo depicting modern-day children waving pro-LGBT “Pride” flags. Under the images read the text, “Brainwashing is brainwashing.”  

After her post went viral, calls for her to step down grew from leftist Alberta politicians and others. This culminated in her removal as director of the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association (ACSTA). It is worth noting that the Catholic Church infallibly condemns the precepts of gender ideology and the pro-LGBT agenda, including homosexual acts and transgenderism. 

In their coverage, the CBC interviewed the school board chair, the provincial minister of education, the Central Alberta Pride Society and president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, all of whom viewed her post as “repugnant.”  

However, Bertrand pointed out that the CBC failed to interview anyone in support of LaGrange, saying, “Sources offered only criticism of LaGrange with no one from the opposing side to defend her.” 

At the time, Campaign Life Coalition had written extensive articles praising LaGrange’s brave statement and calling on Canadians to support her.  

The CBC’s lack of fairness was not lost on its readers, as ratepayers submitted 31 pages’ worth of emails in support of the trustee, Blacklock’s reported.

“It may not be fair to call it a smear campaign,” Bertrand determined. “However, the blatant lack of balance could reasonably lead one to perceive some degree of bias.”  

Stephanie Coombs, director of journalism at CBC Edmonton, admitted that the network failed in their coverage of the incident, saying, “We could and should have dug deeper to determine what submissions had been made.” 

“I absolutely agree there is valuable key context worth discussing about the challenges many faith-based educational institutions face when reconciling religious doctrine with LGBTQ inclusive policies,” said Coombs. “Ms. LaGrange’s case is not an isolated incident.” 

While the CBC was called out in this case, there have been multiple instances of the outlet pushing what appears to be ideological content, including the creation of pro-LGBT material for kids, tacitly endorsing the gender mutilation of children, promoting euthanasia, and even seeming to justify the burning of mostly Catholic churches throughout the country.