Cape Breton humourist Dave Harley, best known for his role as General John Cabot Trail of the Cape Breton Liberation Army, has died after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

Dave Harley, a.k.a. General John Cabot Trail of the Cape Breton Liberation Army, died after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. (CBC)

Harley brought his offbeat show to the stage as well as the screen and airwaves, entertaining radio and television audiences in a career spanning more than 25 years.

In the 1980's, Harley called for the separation of Cape Breton island from the rest of Nova Scotia. His rallying cry was "down with the causeway," referring to the only physical connection between the island and the mainland.

He performed with CBC's Royal Canadian Air Farce, has been featured on CBC Radio's Madly Off In All Directions, appeared at the Halifax Comedy Festival, and took the stage of many convention centres, banquet halls and taverns in the Maritimes.

Harley was from Sydney Mines, where he had lived in recent years. He was in his early 60's.