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‘Diefenbaby’ George Dryden believes he can finally prove he’s the former PM’s son

Toronto's George Dryden has been trying to prove former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker is his father for nearly two years.

Last week, Dryden received a call from Harvey Tenenbaum, head of the DNA-testing company, Accu-Metrics. Tenenbaum told Dryden that DNA found on the nub of a Q-Tip exhibited "some genetic overlap," the National Post reports.

"There is a familial linkage," Tenenbaum told Maclean's. "I can't say what it is, but it's more than just strangers passing in the street."

After more than 20 of Diefenbaker's known relatives refused to provide Dryden with DNA samples, a private investigator tracked down a distant relative of Diefenbaker and found a "very well used" thrown-away Q-Tip.

"They bagged it, sealed it, took it directly to the DNA lab where they did the tests, which confirms that I am definitely related to that family," Dryden told 680News.

Dryden, who strongly resembles Diefenbaker, believes that the DNA results prove his case.

"I'm taking the position that Diefenbaker is my father because I think I have the DNA evidence to prove it," he said.

Last summer, Dryden learned that the man who raised him, Gordon Dryden, was not his biological father. Since then, Dryden has been trying to prove what he has long-suspected to be true: that his mother, political socialite and singer Mary Lou Lonergan, had an affair with the former prime minister in the 1960s.

[ Related: Stephen Harper close to passing John Diefenbaker ]

Loneran was a known confidante of the Conservative prime minister, and was seen frequently with Diefenbaker public events prior to Loneran marrying the Liberal figure Gordon Dryden. Lonergan reportedly even told friends that she named her son John George after John George Diefenbaker, Maclean's reports.

Dryden says that Diefenbaker himself acknowledged that Dryden was named after him when they met in 1977.

Diefenbaker died in 1979.

Dryden told the Canadian Press that the new DNA evidence is prompting him to change his last name.

"We know scientifically I'm not a Dryden, right. And we know scientifically I am a Diefenbaker. So I think it only makes sense if I do change it."

Dryden insists that proving Diefenbaker is his father has nothing to do with money, and told the Canadian Press there is no inheritance or estate to claim.

Prior to the earwax-testing, Dryden attempted to test samples from artifacts from Saskatoon's Diefenbaker Canada Centre. The results all came back inconclusive.

Strands of hair believed to be Diefenbaker's were the most promising, but ended up being rootless and ineligible for traditional testing, the National Post reports.

[ Related: Diefenbaker hair discovered; museum will allow DNA testing in paternity hunt ]

Dryden is interested in determining whether mitochondrial testing, which doesn't require a root, could be performed on the hair sample to further confirm his paternity claims.