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. 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.

Background Tweed was born in Medora, Manitoba,

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.

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.

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. Tweed went on to work as President of OmniTRAX Canada, which operates, amongst others, the Port of Churchill.

Electoral record Source: