Justice Minister Peter MacKay confirmed Friday he will not run in the next federal election.
MacKay appeared in Stellarton, N.S., in front of constituents, friends, family and politicians -- including Prime Minister Stephen Harper -- and said he was stepping down to spend more time with his family.
MacKay has a young son and is expecting a second child in September.
"For entirely personal reasons the time has come for me to step back from public life and concentrate on my young and growing family," MacKay said.
"The love of this job and all that it entails remains strong but the love of my family remains stronger."
MacKay said he will stay on and complete his mandate as the MP for the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova, and has accepted Harper's request that he remain on as justice minister until election day.
He also said he has not sought employment anywhere else but will remain focused on his political duties until he steps down.
First elected in 1997, MacKay has served as foreign affairs minister, minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and minister of national defence.
He also served as leader of the now defunct Progressive Conservative Party, and helped oversee its merger with the Canadian Alliance to form the Conservative Party of Canada.
"I hope my record will show I worked hard to deliver and I did my best for the people of this riding and all of Nova Scotia and this country," MacKay said as he closed his speech.
Speaking to reporters later, MacKay was pressed on whether he had closed the door permanently on a return to politics at some point. Many have suggested MacKay would be a strong candidate to some day lead the party as Harper's successor.
MacKay replied that it would be "disingenuous" to say that he would never consider a return to politics, but said it is not something that is in his "immediate or long term plans."
Harper spoke warmly and extensively about MacKay ahead of his announcement. The prime minister called his colleague an "outstanding public servant," a "great person" and a "historic figure."
In terms of MacKay's accomplishments, Harper said MacKay was the second longest-serving defence minister in Canada's history, that he reformed the criminal justice system and re-equipped the Canadian Forces after the "decade of darkness" as just a few of his achievements.
He also called MacKay a "team guy in the deepest sense of the term," who is respected by those who have worked alongside him over the years.
"I've seen this up close many times just as I've seen may times how much Peter is liked and admired by those who have worked closely with him, especially his colleagues, his parliamentary colleagues," Harper said.
"They may from time to time disagree with him, maybe occasionally get mad at him, but they also know Peter cares a great deal for them and does his best for them."
Harper also congratulated MacKay on his work over the years with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Canada, and said that from the early days working in government alongside MacKay he knew he would make a great family man.
"I told Peter to make sure he didn't miss out on that and I told him he would be good at it," Harper said. "How did I know that? Not just because of his role in Big Brothers but I saw it in the relationship he struck up with my son Ben when Ben was just a young boy."
Harper said MacKay had a profound impact on Ben.
"It was wonderful to see even though I knew down deep it would lead to tonight, when no matter how much you enjoy being part of this great ride we are on, you want to get off," Harper said.
