Martine Ouellet 4th to enter Parti Qubcois leadership race

Parti Qubcois leadership candidate Martine Ouellet saysshe would hold a sovereignty referendum in her first term as premier.

The former PQ cabinet minister entered the race to succeed Pierre KarlPladeau as permanent leaderFridayand is the only one of the fourdeclared candidates to announce plans for a first-term referendum.

"The time for waiting is over,"Ouellet told supporters in Montreal.

"We've been waiting for 20 years, and at this pace if we don't give aserious push to the independence movement we will wait a long time asspectators of our future."

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Asked by a reporter if voting for her for the leadership positionmeant a vote for an independent Quebec, she answered "clearly."

She said sovereignty is necessary to end what she called theprovincial Liberals' "pillage"of the province and to change thebalance of power with Ottawa.

"Imagine everything we could do if we held all the cards,"saidOuellet. "Imagine: Quebec, the first French country in NorthAmerica."

She said the province's will is being "crushed"by federaldecision-makers on important matters such as the Energy East pipeline.

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"Quebec says no, but Canada wants to impose it on us,"she said,saying the pipeline would pose a huge risk to the province's drinkingwater supply.

"No, Quebec is not for sale," Ouelletsaid. "Independence means making decisions for Quebecers, by Quebecers."

Ouellet, 47,finished third in the last leadership race in 2015behindPladeauand AlexandreCloutier.Pladeau resigned earlier this month,citing family reasons.

A few weeks ago, Ouellet tabled a new economic development plan whichshe says would lead to the creation of 350,000 jobs in the province by2030.

The only other candidate to have stated concrete sovereignty plans isJean-Francois Lise, who said he would introduce a referendum during hissecond term as premier.

The PQ is scheduled to choose its new permanent leader betweenmid-September and mid-October, while the next Quebec election is setfor the fall of 2018.

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Sylvain Gaudreault is serving as interim leader.

Ouellet joins Cloutier, Lise and Vronique Hivon in the race tosucceedPladeauat the party's helm.