Canada PoliticsStephen Harper close to passing John Diefenbaker
In terms of time in office, Stephen Harper is closing in on one of Canada's most celebrated politicians.
On Dec. 8, the 52-year-old Harper will complete his 2,132nd day in office and surpass John George Diefenbaker as Canada's ninth longest serving prime minister.
According to Randy Boswell of PostMedia News, Harper is quickly making his way up the list of Canada's longest serving prime ministers.
In this year alone, he has topped Nobel Prize-winning Liberal prime minister Lester B. Pearson (1963-68); the country's first Liberal prime minister, Alexander Mackenzie (1873-78); and Depression-era Conservative prime minister R.B. Bennett (1930-35).
But passing someone as iconic and revered as Diefenbaker is a quite the feat.
As chronicled at the Library and Archives Canada website, Diefenbaker has quite the list of accomplishments: he appointed the first woman Federal Cabinet Minister, he introduced legislation that improved social programs, championed human rights outside Canada, and helped farmers secure Asian markets for their wheat.
Also during his tenure, Canada's Aboriginal peoples were allowed to vote federally for the first time.
As a tribute to his career, Diefenbaker has had an airport named after him - the Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport - as well as Ottawa's former City Hall which is now called the John G. Diefenbaker Building.
Now that Harper will inevitably surpass Diefenbaker, maybe one day we'll have the Harper International Airport in Calgary or a Stephen Harper building in downtown Ottawa.
You never know.
Canada's longest serving prime ministers: (Source: Library and Archives Canada)
1. William Lyon Mackenzie King: 21 years, 5 months, 6 days
2. Sir John A. MacDonald: 18 years, 11 months, 24 days
3. Pierre Trudeau: 15 years, 5 months, 11 days
4. Sir Wilfred Laurier: 15 years, 2 months, 25 days
5. Jean Chrétien: 10 years, 1 month, 8 days
6. Brian Mulroney: 8 years, 9 months, 8 days
7. Sir Robert Borden: 8 years, 8 months, 30 days
8. Louis St. Laurent: 8 years, 7 months, 6 days
9. John Diefenbaker: 5 years, 10 months, 1 day
10. Stephen Harper: 5 years, 9 months, 25 days (...and counting)
