hot / cold copper water pipes located above main electrical panel

Prefacing this by saying I don't live in Canada, and am not familiar with the codes there.

I had the exact same situation as you do. Not with just 2 pipes, but with cold water feeds for half the house, all copper (prone to pinhole leaks where I live). I had my very good plumber and an inspector look at it, and they told me that at the time the house was built, this was not uncommon, and actually would pass inspection now, although it is obviously not ideal.

I was concerned about leaks, so I had all the copper replaced with plastic, and every possible pipe rerouted. It still left one pipe, the main feed, but I feel much better about it.

Is there any way you can go 'around' (to the left or right) and feed the laundry room from the side wall instead of the floor?

Mind you, all I've seen of Canadian basements was on TV (a really good show), so take this with a grain of salt. However, I can't say this is terribly unusual based on that (in later shows he did a fair amount of basement work).

Local codes might have something else to say, but generally your pipes run inside the basement (which is one of the primary purposes of basements), as well as your electrical panel is typically there (because it's out of the way). So it seems that it is assumed your pipes will be near your panel. It's also worth noting that if your pipes start leaking, you'll have larger issues than an electrical panel.

You can always install a whole house water leak shutoff valve (most of the ones I've seen are for 1" water lines, not the 1/2" line in the photo). It would stop a serious leak, but not a dribble. If you really want a cutoff valve in the basement, you can cut the pipes and put in a Sharkbite (push connect) valve.