Alberta woman Marie Bourque’s death amended by medical examiner [Video]

When respected Fort McMurray-based Métis entrepreneur and artist Lisa Marie Bourque unexpectedly died in an April vehicle collision, Alberta’s chief medical examiner originally categorized it as a suicide.

But after Bourque’s family requested a fatality inquiry, the examiner changed the manner of death to accidental—a move the family’s lawyer said is unprecedented in his experience.

“I have not seen this type of amendment by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner before in my years in legal practice and so this in my opinion is an extraordinary outcome to our request for a fatality inquiry into the circumstances of Lisa’s passing,” lawyer Alex Yiu wrote in an email to Bourque’s common law spouse, Manferd Bishop, who provided it to Alberta Native News.