Parti Quebecois MNA Martine Ouellet, a two-time candidate for that party's top position, has officially thrown her hat into the ring to become the next leader of the Bloc Quebecois.
Surrounded by supporters, Ouellet made the announcement at a press conference on Sunday. Due to her entering the race, she said she would temporarily step away from the PQ caucus in the National Assembly. Should she win the leadership, she will remain a member of the National Assembly until she's able to run for a federal seat.
Ouellet said her priority remains making Quebec an independent state.
"I want all of us to work together to give the sovereignist movement a new breath," she said. "When we're mobilized, it's amazing what we can accomplish."
The next federal election is likely to be held in 2019.
She enters a race that thus far has only one other candidate: Felix Pinel, who ran unsuccessfully for the Bloc in 2015 in the Riviere-des-Mille-Iles riding.
The Bloc will vote for its new leader on April 22.
