Denis Paradis was elected as the Member of Parliament for Brome-Missisquoi in 1995, and was re-elected in 1997 and in November 2000.

On December 12, 2003, he was appointed Minister of State for Financial Institutions. Before that, he had served, from January 2002 to December 2003, as Secretary of State with responsibility for Latin America, Africa, and La Francophonie.

He had previously been Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Cooperation and La Francophonie.

In February 1997, he was elected Chair of the Quebec caucus.

Mr. Paradis has held a number of parliamentary positions, such as Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Health, Vice-Chair of the Standing Joint Committee on Official Languages, and Chair of the special joint committee on amending the Constitution with respect to the Quebec school system. He also sat on several other committees.

Mr Paradis, who is a partner in the law firm Paradis-Paradis, was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1976. From 1978 to 1982, in addition to working in his practice, he taught agricultural law for the Bar. He was President of the Association of Provincial Lawyers in 1983 and Vice-President of the Quebec Bar in 1992. He was chosen as “Batonnier” of the Quebec Bar in 1993 - 1994.

Mr. Paradis studied at the University of Ottawa (B-Com, 1970; LL.L, 1975). He is the co-author of Règles de procédure devant les tribunaux administratifs (1985).