"Ladies and gentleman let's give a warm welcome to the comedy act of ..... Stevie Harper from Ottawa!"

A video turned up on YouTube on Tuesday night that featured Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on the night of the last federal election, offering comedic impressions of what appears to be three past Progressive Conservative prime ministers — John Diefenbaker, Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney — and 1990s Reform party leader Preston Manning.

The PM’s wife Laureen, son Benjamin and daughter Rachel make appearances in what is described as the rehearsal before that evening’s victory speech in Calgary on May 2, 2011. (But a reference to being back in British Columbia, along with practicing an introduction for former MP Chuck Strahl, suggests a different origin than the date described.)

“Steve Harper” is the name attached to the account that uploaded a clip which likely spent the past two years basically unseen beyond the person who preserved a copy.

No further details were provided about the source — who evidently started this account to post this video alone. But the prevailing assumption is that the Prime Minister’s Office approved its distribution.