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 responsible for the Churchill rail line.
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 | August 6, 1955 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
editTweed 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)
editIn 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)
editWhen 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.
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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 | ||||||
| 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
| ||||||
References
edit- ^ a b c d Merv Tweed – Parliament of Canada biography
- ^ "Tweed reenters politics as Killarney mayor". Brandon Sun. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ a b "MLA Biographies - Living". Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ^ a b "Brandon—Souris, Manitoba (1952 - )". History of Federal Ridings since 1867. Parliament of Canada.
- ^ "Tory MP Merv Tweed quits to pursue 'private sector opportunities'". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
- ^ 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