Fire alarms force brief evacuations of Centre Block on Parliament Hill

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.

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.”

It’s unclear what prompted the alarm.