Pierre Karl Péladeau will run for Parti Québécois leadership

Pierre Karl Péladeau, the member of the National Assembly for St-Jérôme, Que.,announced this afternoon he will run for the Parti Québécois leadership.

He made the announcement while delivering a speech to students at the University of Montreal.

Péladeau's run for the PQ leadership has been the subject of much speculation since the nomination period began Oct. 14.

The four other candidates are sitting MNAs Bernard Drainville, Jean-FrançoisLisée and MartineOuellet, and labour rights activist Pierre Céré.

Péladeau said he would not grant interviews until the official launch of his leadership campaign, on Sunday at 4 p.m. in his riding of St-Jérôme.

Anglos welcome to sovereignty movement

He did, however, briefly speak to reporters following his announcement at the university.

He made a jab at the Liberals and its austerity budget, and said he would be a leader who would unite Quebecers.

When asked by CBC’s Justin Hayward about a recent tweet in which he said he would welcome anglophones to the sovereignty movement, Péladeau said times have changed since 1980 and 1995.

“Today we are in 2014 and I think that everyone would consider that having a [richer Quebec] would be a good thing for all the citizens who live in Quebec. So it’s not a matter of, you’re an anglophone or you’re a francophone, or you are from another community,” Péladeau said.

Péladeau has been a PQ MNA since spring 2014. He is also the majority shareholder of media company Québecor.