Canada’s federal politicians of all stripes stood shoulder-to-shoulder Wednesday, to mark the 150th anniversary of the first meeting on Parliament Hill.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, front and centre, stood next to interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Green Leader Elizabeth May.
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WATCH: MPs honour 150th anniversary of the First Meeting on Parliament Hill
Photographer Peter Bregg captured the moment with a high-resolution Nikon and 300 mm lens seated in a gigapan device, able to create a high megapixel-rate photo, allowing viewers to zoom in and see every single face.
(Sadly, as of early Thursday morning, the original image appeared to be experiencing technical difficulties.)
While most MPs managed to hold still and smile, there were definitely some surprises hidden in the over 300 faces. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel took the opportunity to show off her best duck-face.
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Was Liberal Jim Carr upset about something?
Many MPs fell victim to the closed eyes that plagued us all in our elementary school class photos.
Recently vindicated Sen. Mike Duffy made an appearance, and was all smiles.
Sen. Pamela Wallin is also in the image. As of yet, however, no one has been able to locate former prime minister Stephen Harper among the sea of parliamentarians. Harper is reportedly preparing to leave politics sometime this summer, but for the moment remains a sitting MP.
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The crowd gathered outside Centre Block to watch the photo being taken was also captured in the gigapan image, but they weren’t told to hold still. That yielded some interesting (and sometimes terrifying) results. The camera has trouble stitching the image together as people move, which means heads and legs go missing.
This cyclist had clearly had enough of the whole spectacle.
When it was all over, Speaker Geoff Regan, standing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s left, just couldn’t contain his excitement.
It was on June 8, 1866, that the Legislature of the Province of Canada met for the first time in the original, not-yet-finished, Parliament building in Ottawa.
At that time, the legislature had 84 members; half representing Canada East and the others Canada West. John A. MacDonald, George-Étienne Cartier and Alexander MacKenzie were among those in attendance.
It was the final session of the legislature before Confederation.
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