Google takes you inside PM’s office
It’s not included in guided tours of Parliament. Most Canadians have never seen the inside of it.
But now, the public can explore Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office from the comfort of their own homes.
Thanks to Google Maps, Canadians can virtually tour Harper’s office on the third floor of Parliament Hill’s Centre Block with a few mouse clicks.
Google’s special panoramic camera visited Parliament Hill last summer to take pictures that were later stitched together to build a virtual tour of the building.
Virtual tours of other areas of Centre Block, including the House of Commons, Senate Chamber and the Library of Parliament, were made available online earlier this year.
But this is the first time users can navigate behind the scenes to rooms that aren’t included in guided tours of Parliament.
Along with Harper’s office, Google launched Street View imagery this week of Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair’s office and an Opposition meeting room.
They have also added tours of the Memorial Chambers at the base of the Peace Tower and of the observatory at the top.
There is much to explore in Harper’s wood-panelled third-floor office with the use of the zoom button.
His desk is largely bare except for a photo of his wife, Laureen, a lamp and a Beatles coffee mug.
A portrait of Sir John A. Macdonald dominates the wall directly opposite Harper’s desk. The bookshelf features a few dictionaries (English, French, and French-English), two copies of the latest federal budget (one in each official language) a biography of John Lennon, and a Bible.
Mulcair’s office is also adorned with photos and various other items. His desk has a bowl of oranges on it. Framed above his fireplace is a page of the Montreal Gazette from April 2007, days after he joined the NDP and declared himself a candidate for election.
Parliament’s Centre Block joins other notable buildings the public can already tour on Street View, such as the White House, the Colosseum in Rome and several prestigious museums around the world.
“We have a mandate to create the world’s most accurate, comprehensive and usable map, and we take it very seriously,” said Google spokesman Aaron Brindle. “We believe that spaces indoors are just as relevant as places outdoors.”
Google worked for several weeks with the Prime Minister’s Office, the Library of Parliament, and the offices of the House and Senate speakers to arrange access.
Its crew spent days gathering images of various rooms and hallways.
Google gathers indoor images by wheeling around a small pushcart, which it affectionately calls Trolley.
Its operators roll it around, stopping every few steps while a special camera on top takes a 360-degree, panoramic shot of the room.
Trolley is also equipped with motion sensors to track its position, a hard drive to store data, and an onboard computer.