Mike MacDonald, 62, on Mar. 17 from heart complications. A veteran of Canadian stand up, MacDonald was a regular on the Just for Laughs stage, starring in his own CBC/Showtime specials Mike MacDonald, On Target, My House! My Rules and Happy As I Can Be. MacDonald hosted both the Gemini Awards and the Just For Laughs 10th Anniversary Special for the CBC. He also starred in short-lived CBC sitcom Mosquito Lake in 1989-90. Over the years, he also made appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and Arsenio Hall. Diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2011, MacDonald moved back to Ottawa from Glendale, CA, where he underwent a successful liver transplant. Despite struggling with memory loss and depression following the surgery, he went on to perform several hundred stand up shows.
Barrie Clark, 86, on Mar. 16, after a short battle with cancer. Clark got his start in broadcasting at CKOV Kelowna in 1949. From there he did stints at CHEX Peterborough, CJOR Vancouver, Reuters News Agency in London and then hosted various talk and television programming at CKLG, CKWX, CHAN-TV and CBUT Vancouver throughout the 1950s and early 60s. In 1963, he was elected as the city councillor for North Vancouver and three years later to the B.C. legislature, serving in the ministry of the Attorney General as the province’s first Rentalsman from 1973-76. Clark returned to talk radio in the late 70s, as a host on CKNW from 1977-86 and then at CJOR Vancouver and CKOV Kelowna. He re-entered politics in 1999, holding a city council seat in Kelowna until 2008.
