Martine Ouellet officially declared her candidacy for the Parti Quebecois leadership on Friday.

She is the fourth candidate for the role, following Veronique Hivon, Alexandre Cloutier, and Jean-Francois Lisée.

Ouellet made it very clear that Quebec's independence is the crucial role for the Parti Quebecois. She said she believed that an independent Quebec would be more prosperous, and that it should be the main issue concerning voters in the province. 

In particular Ouellet said that international treaties signed by the federal government are not always to Quebec's interests. 

"The time for waiting is over. It's been 20 years that we've been waiting. At this rate if we don't give the independence movement a swift kick we will continue to wait and watch our future as spectators.

Several Bloc Quebecois MPs have said they would support Ouellet's bid, namely Marilene Gill, Michel Boudrias, and Xavier Barsalou-Duval.Ouellet ran for the PQ leadership last year and placed third, following Pierre Karl Peladeau and Cloutier.

According to a CROP-La Presse poll conducted this week support for the four contenders among PQ supporters is very close, ranging from Ouellet's low of 25% to Cloutier's high of 33%. 

Lisée has said that the PQ should abandon any hope of holding a referendum until at least 2022, and instead focus on removing the Liberal party from power. 

Cloutier and Hivon have both said that the PQ should only announce in the fall of 2017 if the party will push for an independence referendum if elected.

Neither the rules for the leadership race, nor the timeline, have been set as of yet.