Parti Quebecois leadership front-runner says referendum will be decided in 2018

LAVAL, Que. — Pierre Karl Peladeau says he will wait until the next Quebec provincial election in 2018 to decide whether a Parti Quebecois government will hold a referendum on independence during its first term.

The Quebec media magnate turned politician says his priority is to promote Quebec sovereignty between now and 2018 if elected head of the Parti Quebecois.

Peladeau says opponents of the PQ are reducing the independence project to the accession process and the right moment for a referendum.

Peladeau spoke during a two-day Parti Quebecois national council meeting in Laval, Que.

Peladeau is the controlling shareholder of Quebecor Inc., one of the main players in the province’s media market.

He is considered the front-runner in the ongoing PQ leadership race.