Martine Ouellet enters Bloc Québécois leadership race
Federal party will crown new leader April 22
Martine Ouellet, who twice ran for the leadership of the Parti Québécois, is now vying for the top job with the federal Bloc Québécois.
The 47-year-old made the announcement at a news conference on Sunday, saying she would leave the PQ caucus during the leadership race but retain her seat at the National Assembly.
The Bloc has been without a permanent leader since Gilles Duceppe stepped down in October 2015, following the federal election.
The party will choose its new leader April 22.
Félix Pinel, 39, has already declared his intention to run. Pinel is a high school teacher from Montreal North who ran unsuccessfully in the riding of Rivière-des-Mille-Îles in 2015.
Ouellet ran for the PQ leadership in 2014 and again last year, both times finishing third.
During the 2016 campaign, she proposed that Quebec athletes compete under the Quebec flag at international events such as the Olympics. She was also a harsh critic of leadership candidates who wouldn't commit to holding a referendum in the first term of a PQ government.
In the 2015 election, the Bloc won 10 seats, up from the four it captured in 2011. Still, it fell short of the 12 needed to gain official party status in the House of Commons.