The sub-series consists of documents created and managed by Speechwriting unit staff of the Office of the Prime Minister (PMO) between October 2009 and October 2015.
Between 2006 and October 2009, the speech writing function was part of the Strategic Planning unit in Stephen J. Harper's PMO. Paul Malvern and Paul Bunner were successively managers of "the Prime Minister's Communications" in 2006 and from 2006 to 2009.
In October 2009, the Speechwriting unit was created, Nigel Hannaford was the unit's manager. Unit staff included speechwriters and research assistants, notably Scott Anderson, Paul Bunner, Gemma Collins, David Curtin, Meredith McDonald, Arthur Milnes, Derek Shelly, Rebecca Staley, Paul Terrien, and Michael Winterburn.
The unit was responsible for drafting various types of speeches for Prime Minister Stephen J. Harper. Writing a "government", or a non-partisan, speech typically included the following steps:
Speechwriting unit staff would draft a speech for an upcoming event. This draft would be sent to PMO department heads and to Privy Council Office (PCO) staff for fact checking. They would add comments, annotations, and tracked changes to the original draft.
Then, the proposed speech, as well as a memorandum giving details about the event, would be sent by the manager of the unit to the Prime Minister and to his Principal Secretary. Stephen J. Harper would make changes, ask questions or suggest modifications to be included in a new version of the speech.
PCO would fact check the speech again and provide translation for parts to be delivered in the other official language. Finally, delivery versions of the speech would be produced.
Political speeches, such as for private remarks or electoral campaigns speeches, would go through similar steps, except PCO staff would not be involved.
The sub-series is divided into six (6) sub-sub-series. The first two, Speeches - Working copies and Speeches - Delivery versions contains the bulk of the speeches. Three particular types of speeches are organized separately and have their own sub-sub-series: Elections speeches, Video greetings and Private remarks. Finally, the last sub-sub-series, Collections and resources, contains administrative and reference documents created and kept by the Speechwriting unit staff.