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Marois also denied the government would be obliged to hold such a vote even if 850,000 people signed a petition.

In her post-debate news conference, Marois sought to clarify her position by describing a petition-driven referendum as “consultative.”

“There is a latitude that the government could establish,” she said.

“What I would prefer — and it will be debated as we discuss the legislation on citizen-initiated referendums — is that we be rather more demanding. In my mind, there has to be signatures from every part of Quebec. They couldn’t be concentrated only in Quebec City or Montreal. But it would remain a consultative referendum.”

Marois, like most PQ leaders in the past, has to walk a fine line: She must take into account opinion polls suggesting most Quebecers don’t want a referendum, while she also has to placate party hardliners who have a habit of eventually eating their moderate leaders.

Legault, a hardline sovereigntist when he was a cabinet colleague of Marois between 1998 and 2003, says he will not hold a referendum for 10 years and that he would even vote “No” if one were held right now.

There appeared to be no love lost between the two during the debate as they constantly interrupted one another with the moderator allowing them to proceed.

Marois was to make a run for the PQ leadership in 2001, but backed out after being abandoned by none other than Legault, who threw his support behind Bernard Landry.

You are the queen of the status quo. It’s sure that nothing will happen with you [in power]. Both your hands are attached to the unions

Earlier in the debate, Legault got off one of the best one-liners of the night when he dubbed Marois the “queen of the status quo.”