which was held to elect Chrétien's successor. Martin won a landslide victory and became prime minister on 12 December 2003. When he formed his first ministry, he appointed Paradis as minister of state for Financial Institutions. Paradis led several roundtable discussions with business, academic, and social groups in months that followed, during the buildup to the Martin government's 2004 budget. Shortly before budget day, he said that the government would return to a practice of setting aside four billion dollars per year to cover emergency spending or the possibility of an economic downturn. Return to the backbenches and time out of office (2004–2015) Paradis was narrowly re-elected in the 2004 federal election over Bloc challenger Christian Ouellet. He was not re-appointed to the ministry and returned to the government backbenches. He lost his seat to Ouellet in the 2006 election, amid losses for the Liberal Party across Quebec. Paradis supported Stéphane Dion in the Liberal Party's 2006 leadership election. Dion won an upset victory in this contest, defeating Michael Ignatieff on the fourth ballot. Paradis attempted to reclaim his seat in the 2008 federal election but was narrowly defeated by Ouellet in a rematch from 2006. Paradis ran for re-election in the 2011 federal election but lost to Pierre Jacob of the New Democratic Party amid a strong provincial swing to the NDP. Return to Parliament (2015–2019) Paradis again ran as the Liberal Party's candidate in Brome—Missisquoi during the 2015 federal election, and this time was victorious, beating New Democrat Catherine Lusson. He ran for the office of Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, losing to fellow Liberal MP Geoff Regan. Subsequently, he was elected to chair the Standing Committee on Official Languages. He did not run for re-election in the 2019 Canadian federal election. Electoral record References 1949 births French Quebecers Lawyers in Quebec Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry Members of the 27th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu University of Ottawa alumni