Early Life and Career
Paradis was born in Bedford in Quebec's Eastern Townships. He earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Ottawa (1973) and later took graduate studies in bills of exchange and business law at the same institution. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1975 and worked as a lawyer before entering politics, specializing in constitutional and administrative cases. At age twenty-seven, he won a case before the Supreme Court of Canada against proposed limits on egg marketing.
Before joining the Liberal Party, Paradis was a member of the Union Nationale. He was a riding association president in the 1976 provincial election and later served on the party's provincial executive. He left when he learned that Union Nationale leader Rodrigue Biron was planning to support the "Oui" side in Quebec's 1980 referendum on sovereignty.
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