It was an unusual day at the Manitoba Legislature on Thursday.

Morden-Winkler MLA Cameron Friesen explains they were in the middle of Question Period when alarms sounded.

"What we found today is we have protocols in place as a legislature to be able to respond appropriately when something happens," Friesen says.

The evacuation notice came at approximately 2:30 p.m. It was later learned the incident stemmed from prank call that turned out to be a false alarm.

Though everyone left the building as quickly as possible, Friesen says people remained calm and orderly.

"These are interesting times we live in, because we are aware of things occurring elsewhere in the country and the world, people are aware of their surroundings," Friesen says.

"We're Manitobans, we are very practical people, there was cooperation," he says.

Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen agrees the atmosphere wasn't tense.

"People were just surprised," he says. "You are in the middle of Question Period which is already a fairly intense part of the day and then an alarm goes off."

He says in the 14 years he has been working there, this is a first.