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Stephen Harper knows what is going on – he is going on. By the end of his current mandate, he will have been Prime Minister for nearly a decade and overtaken Brian Mulroney to become Canada’s sixth longest serving leader, with Jean Chrétien’s 10 years and 38 days firmly in his sights.

But, curiously, delegates at the Conservative Party’s policy convention were less fascinated by Mr. Harper’s longevity project than the Prime Minister appears to be.

“I was surprised by how many people were talking about what comes next,” said one senior Conservative.

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Harper is not bound by the policies, but with his government lagging in the polls and as he dodges a scandal that continues to burn, he will come under pressure to adopt some of the contentious policies to satisfy his core base of supporters in the next election.

The prime minister kept a low profile during the convention: delivering a speech Friday night that focused on his past accomplishments and avoided contrition for his handling of the Senate expense scandal; staying far away from journalists who might try to shout questions at him (and who were prevented from doing so by Harper’s staff and convention organizers); and letting party fundraiser Irving Gerstein, a self-proclaimed “bagman,” deliver the closing speech to pump up the troops.

Gerstein told Conservatives their party has $14-million in the bank because of a top-notch fundraising operation that thrives because the party’s message resonates with average voters.