What Canadians want to know about Stephen Harper

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper might be disappointed to learn that the most commonquestions about him arenot about how well he's managed Canada's economy or what he's done to protect Canada from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Canadians, according to their internet searches, aremuch more interested in his personal life.

Google Canada has revealedthe five mostsearched questions about each of the main party leaders, based on search data from the six months leading up to the election call last month.

Today, CBC News delivers answers to the most searchedquestions about Harper. We started last week with NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, and we'll look at the other leaders in thecoming days.

Here's what Canadians wanted to know about Harper.

1. How long has Stephen Harper been prime minister?

Answer: Nine yearsand 209 days, as of today, Sept. 3. That's considerable by moststandards, but if Harperis re-elected in October and serves a full four-year term he will vault up the list to become the fifthlongest serving prime minister in Canada's history.

That would push formerLiberal prime ministerJean Chrtiendown to the No. 6 spot.

• Years in office have honed Stephen Harper's survival skills

Regardless of the outcome in this election, Harper has one title under his belt: he is already the secondlongest serving Conservative prime minister in Canada's history. The longest serving? One of Harper's political idols,Sir John A. Macdonald, the country's first prime minister,who served 18 years and 359 days over an impressive six mandates.

2. How tall is Stephen Harper?

Many Canadians asked Google about Harper's physical stature.

Harper is definitely not pint-sized. He's about six feet two inches tall, andaccording to datacompiled by British newspaper the Guardian,he is one of the tallest world leadersever. Two notable world leaders who surpass him in stature:Abraham Lincoln (even without his top hat) and Cuba's Fidel Castro, whoin his primewas a towering six feet fourinches tall.

But, according to Google, Harper's height is matched byLiberal Leader Justin Trudeau.

• Stephen Harper's kids draw curiosity of young fans
• Ben and Rachel Harper playing bigger role in campaign 2015

Harper has passed along his height to his son, Ben, who is an accomplished varsity volleyball player at Queen's University in Kingston. Ont.

3. Where was Stephen Harper born?

Despite getting his political startas a foundingmember of the Reform Party which was based on western Canadian populism Harper was born in Leaside, a leafy suburb northeast of Toronto's downtown core, a community quite different from those found on thePrairies that are close to his political heart.

As ateenager, Harper'sfamily then moved to Etobicoke, another suburb of the Big Smoke to the west. Both communities are now part of Toronto proper.

It was in high school, atRichviewCollegiate Institute, that Harper made a more prominentpublic debut. He appeared in an episode of the CBC quiz showReach for the Topin 1978, but his teamlost toVincent Massey Collegiate although his contemporaries say he was the best player.

After dropping out of the University of Toronto's prestigiousTrinity College after only a fewweeks of classes he headed westto Edmontonin 1978, to work as an office clerk in the offices of Imperial Oil. He never looked back.

4. What episode of Murdoch Mysteries is Stephen Harper in?

Googlers also wanted to know about Harper's television drama career.

Harper appeared in an episode of the police proceduralMurdoch Mysteriesin 2010. But you might not have even noticed he had a 90-second cameo where he played the role of a desk sergeant.

When producers of Murdoch Mysteries visited Parliament Hill to film a scene, they broke the news to Harper that the CBC had purchased the series from its original televisionnetwork.Harper joked,"I'll watch it anyway."

But that wasn't Harper's first appearance ina Canadian TV series. In March 2007, shortly after being elected,Harper had a small role on the sitcomCorner Gas.The role wasn't much of a stretch Harper played himself andhe didn't hesitate toslag the outgoing Liberal government for its inaction on the epidemic of gopher deathson the Prairies.

"I like prairie dogs and I like gophers," Harper said, deadpan,facing a faux scrum of reporters,"but sadly, neither were given the respect they deserve under the previous Liberal government."

5. When did Stephen Harper apologize for residential schools?

On June 11, 2008, inwhat could be considered themost solemn moment of his tenure as prime minister, Harper rose in the House of Commons to formally apologize to victims of federallyfinanced residential school system.

It was the first formal apology from a sitting prime ministerfor the horrors many residential schools inflicted on its aboriginal pupils.

Chrtien had offered a "statement of reconciliation" years earlier, but was rebuffed by indigenous leaders who dismissed the move as insincere.

"Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country," Harper said to applause.

"The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language," Harper said.