The comedian and writer Joe Flaherty, an honorary Canadian if ever there was one, has died at the age of 82. I don’t know what younger people might make of this monumental figure: after serving as the backbone of the legendary Second City Television (SCTV) series from 1976 to 1984, he spent the next three decades doing spectacular micro-parts in movies and TV shows ranging from the classic (Heavy Metal, Freaks and Geeks, Back to the Future Part II) to the humdrum.