CBC News

· Posted: Mar 17, 2026 10:57 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour ago

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.

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More recently, McLane was known to have been dealing with a health issue, and provincial Finance Minister Jill Burridge took on the health portfolio in an acting role in January, followed by cabinet minister Cory Deagle the next month.

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.