By Canadian Press

Burst pipe in Parliament’s West Block floods Trudeau out of meeting

Jan 29, 2019 | 4:01 PM

OTTAWA — A burst sprinkler pipe flooded several levels of the Parliament Hill building holding the temporary House of Commons on Tuesday, a day after members of Parliament started working there.

On their first sitting day in West Block on Monday, plenty of members of Parliament took wrong turns and had to be directed to the House of Commons they’re to use while Centre Block undergoes at least a decade of renovations.

Tuesday’s problems were less charming: Maintenance crews struggling to mop up the water said a whole end of the building was soaked, including the third-floor meeting room where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet met a few hours earlier.

The workers moved in big water barrels and industrial-style fans to try to dry the place out.

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The flooding extended two floors down, closed the cafeteria and forced Trudeau to move a meeting with the premier of Prince Edward Island even though the prime minister’s own office, which is nearby, was not affected.

Several people visiting the renovated building for the first time also noticed a display panel for one of West Block’s elevators was installed upside-down.

The Canadian Press