Born in Kamouraska County, Quebec, Paradis studied at Sainte-Ann-de-la-Pocatière College and taught art in Ottawa. Following his ordination in 1881, he was posted to Lake Timiskaming as missionary of the Oblate Congregation. Paradis' travels as a missionary provided the information for his pamphlet "From Temiskaming to Hudson Bay". In it, he strongly recommended the colonization of the region. After leaving the Congregation in 1890, he encouraged many French-Canadian farm families from Michigan to settle in the region of Verner and took up farming himself. An enterprising individual, he prospected for gold at Nighthawk Lake, wrote, painted in watercolour and worked on the compilation of an Ojibwa dictionary. He died in Montreal on May 10, 1926.

Location

On the grounds of St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, 38 Main Street, Verner

Themes

• Agriculture
• Arts and culture
• Communities
• Franco-Ontarian heritage
• People
• Religion