Newfoundland and Labrador Finance Minister Jerome Kennedy looks over his first budget for Danny Williams' Conservative government in St. John's in March, 2009. Mr. Kennedy will deliver the provincial budget on Tuesday amid forecast deficits totalling almost $4-billion over the next three years.Paul Daly/The Canadian Press
Newfoundland and Labrador Finance Minister Jerome Kennedy has resigned.
Kennedy says he decided over the summer to leave public life and return to practising law.
Kennedy says he believes the time is right for him to step down.
Premier Kathy Dunderdale says Kennedy brought value to her Progressive Conservative government and she feels bittersweet about his departure.
He was first elected during the October 2007 election.
Since then, the 53-year-old Kennedy served in several other high-profile positions in cabinet, including as minister of health, justice and natural resources.
In those roles he presided over a number of top files, including the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador and contract talks with the province's civil servants.