Paradise, Newfoundland and Labrador

Paradise
Town
Town of Paradise

At sunset
Paradise

Location of Paradise in Newfoundland

Coordinates: 47°32′N 52°52′W / 47.533°N 52.867°W / 47.533; -52.867
Country  Canada
Province  Newfoundland and Labrador
Settled late 19th century
Government
  Mayor Dan Bobbett
  MHA David Brazil
Paul Davis
Steve Kent
  MP Nick Whalen
Area
  Total 29.24 km2 (11.29 sq mi)
Population (2011[1])
  Total 17,695
  Density 430.4/km2 (1,115/sq mi)
Time zone Newfoundland Time (UTC-3:30)
  Summer (DST) Newfoundland Daylight (UTC-2:30)
Area code(s) 709
Website The Town of Paradise

Paradise is a town on the Avalon Peninsula in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The town is a part of the St. John's Metropolitan Area and borders the City of St. John's, the City of Mount Pearl, the Town of Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, and the town of Conception Bay South. According to the 2011 Canadian census the population of Paradise is 17,695, after recording a 41% increase in population over five years.[1]

History

While parts of Paradise have been inhabited since the late nineteenth-century, its growth only took off in the 1960s and 1970s as a "bedroom community" of nearby St. John's. It has grown at a rapid pace since. In the early 1990s, the Town of Paradise was amalgamated with the Town of St. Thomas. Other developed areas which had previously been administered by the St. John's Metropolitan Board, an agency of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, were also amalgamated with Paradise. These areas are Three Island Pond, Topsail Pond, Elizabeth Park, and Evergreen Village. Recently, Paradise has been identified by Statistics Canada as the fastest-growing municipality in Atlantic Canada.

Geography

Precambrian-era bedrock underlies the town, with a belt of volcanic rock along the coast and clastic sedimentary rock inland.[2] The soil is for the most part a stony loam podzol mapped as Cochrane series.[3] Peat is common in poorly drained areas.

Sports

Town crest

The town crest of Paradise was created by a former town council member and one time mayor, "Black" Arch Janes in 1986. He also provided an explanation of what each element of the crest represented.

This information was collected from the official town website, see below.

War memorial

The War memorial located at the town hall was also designed by Arch Janes before his death in 1987.

Government

The Paradise town council is made up of a mayor, deputy mayor, and five councillors. The current mayor of the town is Dan Bobbett, a former Paradise town councillor.

Paradise is part of three provincial electoral districts; Conception Bay East – Bell Island, represented by David Brazil as of December 2010, and Topsail, which is represented by Paul Davis. Steve Kent, the MHA for Mount Pearl North, also represents a small part of the Elizabeth Park subdivision in Paradise, near the Mount Pearl border. Dianne Whalen was the mayor of Paradise for 18 years before entering provincial politics in 2003.

The town's Member of Parliament is Jack Harris, who represents the district of St. John's East.

2009 mayoral election controversy

On September 29, 2009, Newfoundland and Labrador held municipal elections in its municipalities. Paradise had two people running for mayor – incumbent Ralph Wiseman and 19-year-old Kurtis Coombs.[4]

On September 30, it was announced that Coombs had won the election, making him the youngest mayor in Canada.[5] He had beat Wiseman by three votes, having 1,821 votes compared to Wiseman's 1,818.[6] However, a recount revealed that the two were tied. Under Newfoundland and Labrador's Municipal Elections Act, a draw is used to determine the winner if a recount results in a tie. Wiseman was announced the mayor when a piece of paper with his name was drawn out of a recycle bin that contained both his name and Coombs'. Coombs planned on requesting a judicial recount and recommended that another election be held.[6][7]

On October 6, a judge ordered that the results be recounted again, which took place on October 13.[8] The following day it was announced that the recount resulted in another tie. Joyce Moss, the town's chief returning officer, stated that the result from the random draw will stand, resulting in Wiseman remaining as the town's mayor.[9]

Demographics

Population in 201117,695
Population change from 200640.6%
Median age (2011)35.2
Total number of dwellings (2011)6,906
Land area (km².)29.24
Population Density (per km²) (2011)605.2
Source - Statistics Canada [10]
Census Population
1981 2,861
1991 7,358
2001 9,598
2006 12,584
2011 17,695

According to the 2011 National Household Survey, Paradise is 96.2% White, 3.1% Aboriginal, and 0.7% Other.

Notable people

See also

References


Coordinates: 47°32′N 52°52′W / 47.533°N 52.867°W / 47.533; -52.867

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