A retired police officer in Quebec has dedicated the last five years to crafting a scale version of Parliament Hill's Centre Block, as a tribute to Canada on its 150th anniversary.
Gregoire Lefrancois, 75, says he's spent more than 10,000 hours working on the impressive structure, which has been crafted with great care and attention to detail.
He says constructing the Parliament Buildings is his greatest challenge to date, after past woodworking projects that have included a canoe and a windmill.
"Since I was a young boy, I always liked a challenge," Lefrancois told CTV News. He added that he's spent much of his waking time on the project, and that it's even crept into his dreams.
"I go to sleep at night with a problem, and when I get up in the morning I have an answer," he said.
Lefrancois says he used to admire the Parliament Buildings when he would commute into Ottawa from his home in Gatineau, Que. But the task of actually recreating the structure was harder than expected, because records in the Library of Parliament and the National Archives did not include all the necessary measurements for a scale model.
But Lefrancois was determined to make his scale model a reality, so he went to Parliament Hill himself and measured the structure by hand, then used Google Maps images to cover off any additional details. And the structure is extremely detailed, with hand-crafted gargoyles, stained-glass windows, LED lights on the inside and tiny, intricate brickwork on the outside.
"Some pieces I've restarted three or four times," he said.
The structure is not yet finished, but Lefrancois hopes to find a public home for it when it's done, so other Canadians can enjoy the craftsmanship.
With files from CTV National News Parliament Hill Correspondent Kevin Gallagher
