This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive.

Top Google Searches Of 2017: Andrew Scheer Is Year's Top Trending Canadian Politician

Justin Trudeau was not in the top 10 list.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer questions the government during question period in the House of Commons, on Nov. 29, 2017 in Ottawa.
The Canadian Press
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer questions the government during question period in the House of Commons, on Nov. 29, 2017 in Ottawa.

The Conservative Party has been working hard to introduce Andrew Scheer to Canadians since he was chosen as its new leader in May.

Canadians have been trying to get to know him, too, according to Google's annual Year in Search rankings.

Scheer was the top trending Canadian politician in Google's political figures list. To the surprise of zero people, U.S. President Donald Trump topped the category.

The survey, now in its 17th year, measures short-term spikes in search queries compared to the previous year. The results can paint a portrait of the news stories and trends that gripped Canadians.

Overall, Hurricane Irma and Meghan Markle were the top two search terms in Canada this year.

"Google Year-End Search takes a look at trillions of searches globally," Alexandra Hunnings Klein, trends expert for Google Canada, told The Canadian Press. "These lists are a barometer of what was interesting, what Canadians were curious about in 2017."

The year's biggest spike in Canadian searches for Scheer came in the week after his leadership win, according to Google's results. The strongest interest came from his home province of Saskatchewan, while the weakest came from B.C.

Google also tracks related queries to each search term. For Scheer, those included "andrew scheer platform" and "andrew scheer wife."

There was only one other Canadian party leader in the year's top 10 most trending political figures list — and it wasn't Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Jagmeet Singh, who pulled off a stunning victory in the NDP leadership race in October, was the third most trending politician in Canada. The Singh searches were highest in Ontario, where he served as the provincial NDP's deputy leader.

Singh's related queries included "jagmeet singh married" and "jagmeet singh heckler."

The latter leads to arguably one of the biggest moments in the NDP leadership race: a video showing Singh calmly deal with a person yelling at him for his "Shariah law." Footage of the incident, which took place at an event in Ontario, soon went viral and was picked up by several major international news outlets.

Governor General Julie Payette, recently-elected Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, and former B.C. premier Christy Clark also made the top 10 political figures list. However, Clark's search had an incorrect spelling of her name: "Christie Clarke."

With files from The Canadian Press

Close
This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.