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Parti Québécois (PQ) leadership candidate Martine Ouellet said she would consider nationalizing Internet infrastructure in Quebec if telecommunications companies failed to comply with certain demands.

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Ouellet said Monday that if she is elected PQ leader and then premier, she will demand that Internet companies lower their rates and increase speeds, or risk having their infrastructure taken over by the government.

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The PQ candidate said Internet access is an essential service and a right similar to electricity.

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Ouellet said Quebecers should pay one common reduced rate and have speeds of one gigabit per second.

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She added that Quebecers living under the poverty line should be offered even cheaper access.

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The three other candidates running to replace Pierre Karl Péladeau are Alexandre Cloutier, Jean-François Lisée and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.