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Diefenbaker — who was the Progressive Conservative prime minister when Harper was born on April 30, 1959 — served five years, 10 months and one day in office. But with the lengths of months varying as they do, Diefenbaker (elected in June 1957 and succeeded by Pearson in April 1963) also notched 2,132 days at the helm of the federal government — or 2,130 days, according to a Parliament of Canada website.

Either way, by the end of next week, Harper will have outlasted “Dief” as holder of the highest office in the land.

After that, though, Harper will not move further up in the rankings of longest-serving prime ministers until 2014. Then, within a three-month span during the autumn of that year — presuming he remains in office until the next federal election, expected in late 2015 — Harper will reach eight years and 10 months as PM and overtake three other prime ministerial peers in time served: Liberal Louis St. Laurent (1948-1957); Conservative Robert Borden (1911-1920); and Progressive Conservative Brian Mulroney (1984-1993).

It would appear, however, that Harper will not surpass the 10-year, 38-day prime ministerial tenure of his former Liberal rival Jean Chretien — Canada’s fifth longest-serving PM (November 1993 to December 2003) — without winning the next general election, likely to be held on Oct. 19, 2015.

Harper still would have to be prime minister on March 15, 2016, to match Chretien’s 3,691 days in office.