Pierre Paradis

Infobox QuebecMNA | name= Pierre Paradis


caption=
cabinet=
term_start=November 17, 1980
term_end=
predecessor= Armand Russell
birth_date= birth date and age |1950|07|16
birth_place= Bedford, Quebec
successor=
death_date=
death_place=
profession= Actor, Screenwriter, Unionist
party= Quebec Liberal Party
party colour= Liberal
residence=
riding=Brome-Missisquoi (1980-present)
portfolio=
footnotes=
term_start2=
term_end2=
predecessor2=
successor2=
spouse= |

Pierre Paradis (born on July 16, 1950 in Bedford, Quebec) is a politician in Quebec, Canada. He is the current Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Brome-Missisquoi in the Estrie region. He is a member of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1980.

Paradis went to the University of Ottawa and obtained a law degree. He was later admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1975 following additional studies in business law in Ottawa. He was a lawyer from 1975 to 1980 before he entered politics.

Member of the Legislature

Paradis became the Liberal Member of the National Assembly for the district of Brome—Missisquoi, after he won a by-election in the aftermath of the Referendum of 1980. He has been re-elected at every general election since then.

Candidate for leadership of the Liberal Party

The Liberals lost the 1981 provincial election and Claude Ryan stepped down as leader. Paradis tried to succeed him, but finished a distant second, with 12% of the delegates, at the Leadership Convention of 1983, behind former Premier Robert Bourassa (75%). [ [http://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/pages/evenements/3127.html Élection de Robert Bourassa au poste de chef du Parti libéral du Québec, Bilan du Siècle, October 15, 1983] ]

Member of the Cabinet

The Liberals were put back in office in the 1985 election and Bourassa became Premier of Quebec for the second time.

Paradis was appointed to the Cabinet. He served as Minister of Labour, Manpower and Income Security from the 1985 election to 1988, Minister of Municipal Affairs and responsible for Housing from 1988 to the 1989 election and Minister of Environment from the 1989 election to the 1994 election (while briefly having the portfolio of Wildlife). He also served as the Government House Leader from 1992 to the 1994 election.

House Leader of the Official Opposition

Before the 1994 election, Bourassa retired from politics. Daniel Johnson, Jr. had a very strong organization, which may have prevented Paradis from running to become party leader.

The Liberals lost the election and Paradis became the Official Opposition House Leader, and a Member of the Shadow Cabinet.

In that capacity, Paradis was one of the most prominent Liberal MNAs and was expected to become Member of the Cabinet as soon as his party would sweep to power.

Liberal backbencher

In 2003, the Liberals won the provincial election and former Progressive Conservative Leader Jean Charest became Premier of Quebec.

Surprisingly, Paradis was excluded from the new cabinet (even though many newcomers were appointed) and has been stripped from any significant parliamentary assignment since then. From that moment, Paradis opposed several policies of the Liberal government, including the sale of a parcel of land in Mont Orford Provincial Park to private interests, a transaction that was eventually cancelled by the same administration. [ [http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070508/CPACTUALITES/705080754/5264/CPACTUALITES «Quand le peuple parle, ça laisse des traces» Pierre Paradis, Fédérick Duchesneau, La Voix de l'Est, May 8, 2007] ]

After the Liberals were reduced to a minority government in the 2007 election, the role that would be played by Paradis in the legislature became the object of speculation. [ [http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070417/CPACTUALITES/704170692/1019/CPACTUALITES Pierre Paradis sera de retour au Conseil des ministres, La Presse, April 17, 2007] ] However, the Cabinet was formed on April 17, 2007, and Paradis was confirmed as a backbencher. [ [http://www.matin.qc.ca/articles/20070418165707/pierre_paradis_pierre_arcand_quatre_anciens_ministres_exclus_cabinet.html Pierre Paradis, Pierre Arcand et quatre anciens ministres exclus du cabinet, Presse Canadienne, April 18, 2007] ]

Paradis's brother Denis served as Member of Parliament for the district of Brome—Missisquoi from 1995 to the 2006 federal election and as Member of the federal Cabinet from 2002 to the 2004 election.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fra/Membres/notices/o-p/parp1.shtml Biography of Pierre Paradis] fr icon