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Pierre Karl Péladeau would have set in motion a referendum on Quebec independence within a first mandate of a Parti Québécois government, leadership candidate Martine Ouellet said Friday kicking off her own campaign.

Trying to shore up her own hardline sovereignty option by linking her campaign to that of the popular former leader, Ouellet said in her mind 70 per cent of the PQ members in the 2015 leadership race voted in favour of the party achieving independence in a first mandate of government.

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She campaigned in 2015 based on that idea, placing third to Péladeau.

She said she established the figure by adding her score in that race, 13.2 per cent, to that of Péladeau’s, which was 57.6 per cent.

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“We were two candidates to present this option, me and Pierre Karl Péladeau,” Ouellet said at a news conference held at the east-end Lion d’Or cabaret when asked about her chances of winning the PQ leadership this time.