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Fire alarms force brief evacuations of Centre Block on Parliament Hill

Centre Block's Peace Tower is shown through the gates of Parliament Hill as Finance Minister Joe Oliver prepares to table the budget in Ottawa on Tuesday, April 21, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Fire alarms forced a brief evacuation of Centre Block on Parliament Hill on two separate occasions Wednesday morning.

The first alarm was triggered around 9:30 a.m.

Security ushered staff, media and politicians from Centre Block while firefighters responded to the call.

Parliament Hill officials gave the all-clear just before 10 a.m.

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A short time later, while Transport Minister Marc Garneau was holding a press conference to comment on Wednesday’s announcement that aerospace manufacturer Bombardier was slashing 7,000 jobs, a second fire alarm was triggered.

Garneau joked with media, assuring them the alarm “was not planned.”

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It’s unclear what prompted the alarm.

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