(rdnewsNOW/ Ian Gustafson)

By rdnewsNOW staff

Amid allegations

Calls for Adriana LaGrange to resign continue in Red Deer

May 15, 2025 | 4:45 PM

A group of approximately 100 to 125 Albertans made the trip to Adriana LaGrange’s office in Red Deer on Thursday calling on her to resign as Minister of Health.

Organized by Public Interest Alberta, a non-profit organization focused on public interest issues, the group travelled by bus to Red Deer with residents from Edmonton and Calgary to deliver the message to LaGrange that they’ve had enough.

They also relayed the same message to residents of her riding in Red Deer-North where she serves as MLA by knocking door to door and delivering 15,000 flyers.

“We think Adriana LaGrange has been an abysmal health minister,” said Bradley Lafortune, executive director of Public Interest Alberta. “It’s been absolute chaos in our system.”

Chants of “Adriana has got to go” could be heard outside of her office before an attempt was made to deliver a pamphlet asking for her to resign.

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The attempt was denied as her office displayed a closed sign on the front door. According to her website, LaGrange’s office is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The group made the attempt at 1:30 p.m.

A person came out of LaGrange’s office and was observed filming the protestors with her phone from the front door with some back and forth conversation with the group.

“We thought it would be respectful to say we’re in your riding talking to your constituents about our concerns with healthcare and what we think you should do,” Lafortune said.

“We’ve had a lot of troubles getting in contact with Adriana LaGrange the last couple of years. We had a meeting set up about six months ago and she cancelled it.”

Request for comment from LaGrange’s Red Deer-North office were redirected to the Minister of Health’s Office.

The Minister of Health’s Office said Public Interest Alberta is a blatantly partisan activist group led by the former Chief of Staff to the leader of the official opposition.

“They do not represent the views of all Albertans and are once again engaging in the same predictable political antics,” they wrote in the emailed statement. “Minister LaGrange remains focused on strengthening Alberta’s health care system and delivering on the real priorities of the people of Red Deer North and all Albertans.”

Among Public Interest Alberta’s key talking points was the Red Deer Regional Hospital redevelopment project that was claimed to be delayed earlier this month. However, the Government of Alberta refuted those claims shortly after.

Related: Red Deer hospital project not paused, gov’t says, despite doctor’s social media claim

Lafortune also called the move the government made to transition from Alberta Health Services to Primary Care Alberta, disruptive.

Instead of focusing on those issues of stabilizing in the system, he said the government is focused on privatizing the system and picking fights with the federal government.

He also pointed to the issue many communities and families face of finding a family doctor.

“Most of Albertans, whether you’re in Red Deer, a bigger city, or in rural Alberta, you can feel it,” he said. “You go to an ER, it’s closed or if it’s open it’s a 12-hour wait time. If you go to the hospitals you see people in the hallway. This is not normal. They said they were going to fix healthcare, no one believed it but no one thought it would be this bad.”

Change needs to happen, Lafortune said, and he suggests that starts with LaGrange resigning because this isn’t the way a healthcare system should be ran, Lafortune added.

“People should have access to good quality care when they need it and that shouldn’t be so hard to do,” he lamented.

Lafortune explained, this is their fifth time visiting Red Deer calling for LaGrange’s resignation since February.

He said the reason they keep holding protests are to educate Albertans.

“At the end of the day, we’re in a real crisis when it comes to access to healthcare in this province and our message to our neighbours is if you’re not feeling it yet but when you need it that healthcare should be there for you. It’s just not for too many people right now.”