Mervin C. Tweed, MP (born August 6, 1955 in

Medora, Manitoba The Rural Municipality of Brenda is a former List of rural municipalities in Manitoba, rural municipality (RM) in the Canada, Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Manitoba. It was originally incorporated as a rural municipality ...

) is a retired politician in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. He represented Brandon—Souris in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

from 2004 to August 31, 2013. Prior to that he was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gener ...

from 1995 to 2004, representing the constituency of Turtle Mountain. He was the president of Omnitrax, the American rail company responsible for the Churchill rail line. Tweed was born in Medora, Manitoba, and was educated at

Brandon University Brandon University is a university located in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, with an enrollment of 3375 (2020) full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. The current location was founded on July 13, 1899, as Brandon Co ...

. 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 A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

in the rural municipality of

Brenda Brenda is a feminine given name in the English language. Origin The overall accepted origin for the female name Brenda is the Old Nordic male name ''Brandr'' meaning both ''torch'' and ''sword'': evidently the male name Brandr took root in areas ...

for five years, and as deputy

reeve Reeve may refer to: Titles *Reeve (Canada), an elected chief executive of some counties, townships, and equivalents *Reeve (England), an official elected annually by the serfs to supervise lands for a lord *High-reeve, a title taken by some Englis ...

for three. Tweed returned to municipal politics in 2021 after being elected mayor of the

Municipality of Killarney-Turtle Mountain Killarney-Turtle Mountain is a rural municipality (RM) located in the Westman Region of Manitoba, Canada. It is located to the immediate north of the Canada–United States border opposite Rollete and Towner Counties, North Dakota. History Th ...

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 Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Gary Filmon before being appointed Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism with responsibility for the Development Corporation Act on February 5, 1999. 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 The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

under Gary Doer. Tweed resigned his cabinet portfolio with the rest of the Filmon ministry. 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 Rick Borotsik (born September 8, 1950) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as Mayor of Brandon from 1989 to 1997, was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manito ...

( 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 Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Murray Downing. Following the 2004 election, Tweed was named opposition critic for

Western Economic Diversification In Canada, the Regional Development Agencies (RDA) are the seven federal government agencies responsible for addressing key economic challenges and furthering economic development, diversification, and job creation specific to their respective regio ...

by Conservative leader

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

. In April 2006, Tweed was elected chairperson of

'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. His resignation took effect on August 31, 2013. Tweed went on to work as President of OmniTRAX Canada,cbc.ca: "Manitoba MP quits, takes top job at rail company. Tory MP second in matter of weeks to resign in Manitoba" 12 Aug 2013
/ref> which operates, amongst others, the Port of Churchill.

Electoral record

References

External links

Merv Tweed

How'd They Vote?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tweed, Merv 1955 births Brandon University alumni Conservative Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Manitoba People from Westman Region, Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs 21st-century Canadian politicians