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P.E.I. Progressive Conservative MLA and cabinet minister Mark McLane has died, with Premier Rob Lantz paying tribute to his colleague as someone who could always be counted upon.
“Prince Edward Island lost a great Islander today — but far more importantly, a family lost a great husband and father, and so many Islanders lost a truly great friend,” Lantz said in a published statement Tuesday.
“Mark McLane was the kind of person people gravitated toward. He was someone you could always count on for a laugh when you needed it, for thoughtful advice when things got complicated, and for his presence when it mattered most,” the premier said.
McLane was first elected to the provincial legislature in a November 2021 byelection, as the MLA for District 16 Cornwall-Meadowbank. The next year, he joined then-premier Dennis King’s cabinet, serving as finance minister.
McLane was re-elected in the 2023 general election. Soon after, he became the province’s health and wellness minister.
P.E.I.’s health minister, Mark McLane, is dealing with some health challenges of his own right now. Because of that, the province’s finance minister is taking on an additional job. CBC’s Wayne Thibodeau spoke with Premier Bloyce Thompson about his decision to name Jill Burridge to the dual roles of health and finance.
More recently, McLane was known to have been dealing with a health issue, and provincial Finance Minister Jill Burridge had served as the province’s acting health minister since January.
A biographical page for McLane published on the P.E.I. Legislative Assembly’s website says he was previously the executive director of Golf P.E.I. from 2012 to 2021. He was also a past president of the IT company iWave Information Systems.