Green party win shows Canadians ‘preoccupied’ by climate change: Trudeau

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a B.C. byelection win for the Green party shows Canadians are "preoccupied" by climate change.

Trudeau says it will be really important for Canadians to pick a government in the upcoming federal election that is committed to "climate action," adding his party will be making this point during the fall campaign.

Last night, voters in the federal riding of Nanaimo-Ladysmith elected Paul Manly of the Green party as their new MP, taking the seat away from the NDP and leaving the Liberals a distant fourth.

Manly called the victory a "historic" win, saying people want to see action on climate change.

He will be the second Green party member in Parliament, along with leader Elizabeth May.

The byelection was prompted by the departure of the NDP's Sheila Malcolmson, who quit to become a provincial politician in B.C.

The Canadian Press