Merv Tweed

Mervin C. Tweed (born August 6, 1955) is a retired politician in Manitoba, Canada. He represented Brandon—Souris in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to August 31, 2013. Prior to that he was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1995 to 2004, representing the constituency of Turtle Mountain.^[1] He was the president of Omnitrax, the American rail company that was responsible for the Churchill rail line. After letting the rail line fall into disrepair and ignoring Federal orders to repair it, the American owners sold it to the Federal Government of Canada who then transferred it to a consortium of First Nations. The rebranded Arctic Gateway has since been revitalized and operates to this day after the neglect it went through under American management.

Mervin C. Tweed
Member of Parliament for Brandon—Souris
In office June 28, 2004 – August 31, 2013
Preceded by	Rick Borotsik
Succeeded by	Larry Maguire
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Turtle Mountain
In office April 25, 1995 – May 25, 2004
Preceded by	Bob Rose
Succeeded by	Cliff Cullen
Chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture
In office 25 September 2012 – 23 October 2013
Minister	Gerry Ritz
Preceded by	Larry Miller
Succeeded by	Bev Shipley
Personal details
Born	(1955-08-06) August 6, 1955 (age 69) Medora, Manitoba
Political party	Conservative
Residence	Brandon, Manitoba
Profession	Automobile dealer

Tweed was born in Medora, Manitoba,^[1] and was educated at Brandon University. He operated a used car dealership for seventeen years, and was for a time an executive member of the Killarney and Area Recreation Committee.

Municipal politician

Tweed began his political career in municipal politics, serving as a councillor in the rural municipality of Brenda for five years, and as deputy reeve for three.^[1] Tweed returned to municipal politics in 2021 after being elected mayor of the Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain^[2]

Provincial politician (1995–2004)

In 1995, he was elected to the Manitoba legislature as a Progressive Conservative in Turtle Mountain, a safe seat for the party. He served as a parliamentary assistant to a variety of ministers in the government of Premier Gary Filmon before being appointed Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism with responsibility for the Development Corporation Act on February 5, 1999.^[3]

Tweed was easily re-elected in the 1999 provincial election, although the Progressive Conservatives were defeated at the provincial level by the New Democratic Party under Gary Doer. Tweed resigned his cabinet portfolio with the rest of the Filmon ministry.^[3]

Despite the NDP's landmark election win of 2003, Tweed was again re-elected in Turtle Mountain without difficulty, receiving 3,956 votes against 1,893 for New Democrat Lonnie Patterson.

Federal politician (2004–2013)

When federal Conservative MP Rick Borotsik (Brandon—Souris), announced his retirement in 2004, Tweed resigned his provincial seat and won the Conservative nomination for the riding. He received 18,209 votes in the general election, against 8,522 for Liberal Murray Downing.^[4]

Following the 2004 election, Tweed was named opposition critic for Western Economic Diversification by Conservative leader Stephen Harper. In April 2006, Tweed was elected chairperson of House of Commons of Canada's Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, a post he held until September 25, 2012 when he was elected chairperson of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food.^[1] His resignation took effect on August 31, 2013.^[5] Tweed went on to work as President of OmniTRAX Canada,^[6] which operates, amongst others, the Port of Churchill.

Electoral record

Source:^[4]

v t e 2011 Canadian federal election: Brandon—Souris
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Merv Tweed	22,386	63.73	+6.67	$42,483
	New Democratic	Jean Luc Bouché	8,845	25.18	+7.52	$11,846
	Green	Dave Barnes	2,012	5.73	-10.06	$10,620
	Liberal	Wes Penner	1,882	5.36	-2.92	$15,300
Total valid votes/expense limit			35,125	100.0		$ 88,412.19
Total rejected ballots			139	0.39	+0.07
Turnout			35,264	57.54	+1.58
Eligible voters			61,289	–	–
	Conservative hold		Swing		-0.42

v t e 2008 Canadian federal election: Brandon—Souris
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Merv Tweed	19,558	57.06	+2.63	$40,902
	New Democratic	Jean Luc Bouché	6,055	17.67	-2.57	$16,762
	Green	Dave Barnes	5,410	15.78	+11.20	$39,823
	Liberal	Martha Jo Willard	2,836	8.27	-9.73	$12,178
	Christian Heritage	Jerome Dondo	292	0.85	+0.07	$728
	Communist	Lisa Gallagher	124	0.36	+0.04	$622
Total valid votes/expense limit			34,275	100.0		$ 85,829
Total rejected ballots			112	0.33	-0.04
Turnout			34,387	55.96	-4.36
Eligible voters			61,449	–	–
	Conservative hold		Swing		+2.60

v t e 2006 Canadian federal election: Brandon—Souris
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	(x)Merv Tweed	20,247	54.43	+2.70	$51,606
	New Democratic	Bob Senff	7,528	20.24	+1.09	$7,255
	Liberal	Murray Downing	6,696	18.00	-6.21	$20,605
	Green	Brad Bird	1,707	4.59	+1.00	$15.50
	Independent	Mike Volek	611	1.64	–	$4,238
	Christian Heritage	Colin Atkins	290	0.78	-0.22	$1,380
	Communist	Lisa Gallagher	120	0.32	-0.01	$295
Total valid votes/expense limit			37,119	100.0		–
Total rejected ballots			138	0.37	-0.18
Turnout			37,337	60.32	+4.07
Eligible voters			61,903	–	–
	Conservative hold		Swing		+0.81

v t e 2004 Canadian federal election: Brandon—Souris
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Merv Tweed	18,209	51.72	-17.64	$54,647
	Liberal	Murray Downing	8,522	24.21	+6.83	$26,903
	New Democratic	Mike Abbey	6,740	19.15	+7.05	$13,512
	Green	David Kattenburg	1,264	3.59	–	$1,322
	Christian Heritage	Colin Atkins	351	1.00		$683
	Communist	Lisa Gallagher	118	0.34		$665
Total valid votes			35,204	100.0		–
Total rejected ballots			194	0.55
Turnout			35,398	56.24	-8.96
Eligible voters			62,938	–	–
	Conservative notional hold		Swing		+12.23