Christian Paradis
Christian Paradis | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Mégantic—L'Érable | |
In office January 23, 2006 – August 4, 2015 | |
Preceded by | Marc Boulianne |
Succeeded by | Luc Berthold |
Minister for International Development Minister for La Francophonie | |
In office July 15, 2013 – November 4, 2015 | |
Prime Minister | Stephen Harper |
Preceded by | Julian Fantino (Int. Development) Steven Blaney (La Francophonie) |
Succeeded by | Marie-Claude Bibeau |
Minister of Industry | |
In office May 18, 2011 – July 15, 2013 | |
Prime Minister | Stephen Harper |
Preceded by | Tony Clement |
Succeeded by | James Moore |
Personal details | |
Born | Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada | January 1, 1974
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Julie Roberge |
Residence | Thetford Mines, Quebec |
Profession | Lawyer |
Portfolio | Minister of Industry Quebec Lieutenant |
Christian Paradis PC (born January 1, 1974) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mégantic—L'Érable from 2006 to 2015. A member of the Conservative Party of Canada, he was first elected in the 2006 federal election and served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources until January 4, 2007, when he was appointed Secretary of State for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Rural Secretariat. On June 25, 2008, Paradis was appointed Minister of Public Works and Government Services, retaining his position as Secretary of State for Agriculture until October that same year. On October 30, 2008, in a cabinet shuffle following the election, he retained the Public Works portfolio. In addition, he succeeded Lawrence Cannon as Quebec Lieutenant.[1] On January 19, 2010, in a cabinet shuffle, Prime Minister Harper appointed him Minister of Natural Resources. On May 18, 2011, in a cabinet shuffle he was appointed to be the Minister of Industry. On July 15, 2013, in a cabinet shuffle, he was appointed as Minister of International Development and Minister for La Francophonie.
A lawyer by profession, Paradis had a legal practice in Thetford Mines where he also served as president of the chamber of commerce. He is a graduate of the Université de Sherbrooke and has a master's degree in corporate law from Université Laval. Paradis has been a staunch defender of Canada's asbestos mines, but recently gave in to global pressure to list asbestos as a hazardous chemical.[2] On April 3, 2015, Paradis announced that he would not seek re-election.[3][4]
Achievements and positions[]
Paradis served as representative of the riding of Megantic-L'Érable from 2006 to 2015. He received nearly 50% of the vote in each federal election.[5]
In March 2011, as Minister of Natural Resources, Minister Paradis in the company of Minister Normandeau announced that the governments of Canada and Quebec reached a historic agreement in principle for the co-management of the Old Harry hydrocarbon reservoir, located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.[6][7]
Telecommunications - As Minister of Industry and therefore responsible for telecommunications, Minister Paradis stood up to the telecommunications industry, stressing the need for four national carriers to maintain competition in all regions of the country. He announced in March 2012, the lifting of restrictions on foreign ownership for smaller players in the wireless industry and in March 2013, he announced a new broadband wireless spectrum auction to enable access to new entrants and incumbents.[8][9][10][11]
Information request tampering[]
Paradis' aide Sebastien Togneri resigned on September 30, 2010 for meddling in access-to-information requests while working under Paradis at the Public Works ministry.[12][13] When Paradis was asked whether Togneri was the only person involved in these incidents, he did not directly answer the question.[14] In November 2010 two further aides that had accompanied Paradis from Public Works to Natural Resources were found to also have been involved in the interference with information requests at Public Works.[14][15] The opposition called for Paradis to resign.[13]
References[]
- ^ Leblanc, Daniel (October 30, 2008). "This page is available to GlobePlus subscribers". Toronto: Theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
- ^ CTVNews.ca Staff. "CTV News.ca - Canada will no longer oppose global fight against asbestos: Paradis". CTV News.ca. CTV News.ca. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
- ^ http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/ministers-glover-and-paradis-will-not-seek-re-election-1.2311119
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/christian-paradis-shelly-glover-federal-ministers-won-t-seek-re-election-1.3020859
- ^ Marquis, Melanie (September 20, 2015). "Will Quebec's Mégantic-L'Érable riding stay blue without Christian Paradis?". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ « Old Harry: le PC va utiliser l'entente pour aider sa popularité lors d'élections » [archive] (consulté le 1 avril 2015)
- ^ « Gisement Old Harry : « Une entente historique » | ICI.Radio-Canada.ca » [archive] (consulté le 1 avril 2015)
- ^ "Canadian Minister Paradis Announces New Broadband Wireless Spectrum Auction". telecomreviewna.com. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
- ^ Geist, Michael. "Paradis Announces New Spectrum Auction Measures." N.p., 7 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2015. [1]
- ^ « Ottawa vise plus de concurrence dans la téléphonie sans fil | ICI.Radio-Canada.ca » [archive] (consulté le 2015-04-01) [2]
- ^ "Un Spectre De Fréquence Pour La Téléphonie Aux Enchères." Radio-canada.ca, Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2015. [3]
- ^ "Aide quits, but minister refuses to resign". www.nationalpost.com. Retrieved 2010-10-02.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Info-meddling probe may widen". cbc.ca. October 1, 2010. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Two more Tory staffers tried to block access to information: docs - Winnipeg Free Press". winnipegfreepress.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2010. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
- ^ Smith, Joanna (October 4, 2010). "More Christian Paradis aides vetted information requests". www.thestar.com. Toronto. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
External links[]
- Profile at Parliament of Canada
- Christian Paradis – Parliament of Canada biography
- Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca
- 1974 births
- Conservative Party of Canada MPs
- French Quebecers
- Living people
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec
- Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- People from Thetford Mines
- Lawyers in Quebec
- Université de Sherbrooke alumni
- Université Laval alumni
- Mining ministers of Canada
- Members of the 28th Canadian Ministry