HALIFAX - Michael Baker, a respected member of Premier Rodney MacDonald's cabinet, died Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Baker, the province's finance minister, was 52.
Wade Keller, a spokesman for the premier, said Baker was surrounded by his family when he died at his home in Lunenburg, N.S.
The Conservative member for Lunenburg was diagnosed with a form of skin cancer in 2006 and had surgery to remove a malignant tumour in his neck.
He was told by doctors in March 2007 to seek additional treatment after the cancer returned.
Baker continued to work throughout most of his fight with the disease and was busy preparing the government's spring budget just weeks before his death.
First elected to the Nova Scotia legislature in 1998, Baker was regarded as a stalwart member of cabinet under former premier John Hamm and later under MacDonald.
He held high-profile portfolios during his time in government, including transportation and justice. He was also chairman of the treasury and policy board and was a former government house leader under MacDonald.
He surprised some political observers when he decided not to run in the 2006 Conservative leadership race.
Baker instead backed former cabinet colleague Neil LeBlanc, who finished third in a contest won by MacDonald.
A resident of Lunenburg, Baker was a graduate of Dalhousie University Law School and practised in the nearby towns of Mahone Bay and Chester.
He eventually became solicitor for the town of Mahone Bay and also served as the director of Marine Atlantic.
He is survived by his wife Cynthia and two sons.
Baker died just over a week after his cabinet responsibilities were given to Community Services Minister Chris d'Entremont on an interim basis.
A week before that, a gaunt Baker was in a wheelchair while attending the dedication of a justice centre in his name in Bridgewater, N.S.
