Merv Tweed

Mervin C. Tweed
Member of Parliament for Brandon-Souris
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
Preceded by	Rick Borotsik
MLA for Turtle Mountain
In office 1995–2004
Preceded by	Bob Rose
Succeeded by	Cliff Cullen
Personal details
Born	August 6, 1955 (1955-08-06) (age 56) Medora, Manitoba
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Bev Tweed
Residence	Brandon, Manitoba
Profession	Automobile dealer

Mervin C. Tweed, MP (born August 6, 1955 in Medora, Manitoba) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He currently sits as the Member of Parliament for Brandon—Souris. Prior to that he was a member of the Manitoba Legislature from 1995 to 2004, representing the constituency of Turtle Mountain.

Tweed was born in Medora, Manitoba, 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.

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. 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.

Despite the NDP's landmark election win of 2003, Tweed was again re-elected in Turtle Mountain without difficulty, receiving 3956 votes against 1893 for New Democrat Lonnie Patterson.

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 8522 for Liberal Murray Downing.

Following the election, Tweed was named opposition critic for Western Economic Diversification by Conservative leader Stephen Harper. He easily retained his seat in the 2006 election and 2008 election.

Electoral record

2006 federal election : Brandon—Souris edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Conservative	(x)Merv Tweed	20,247	54.43	$50,287.96
	New Democratic Party	Bob Senff	7,528	20.24	$7,119.25
	Liberal	Murray Downing	6,696	18.00	$20,605.00
	Green	Brad Bird	1,707	4.59	$15.50
	Independent	Mike Volek	611	1.64	$4,238.60
	Christian Heritage	Colin Atkins	290	0.78	$1,380.45
	Communist	Lisa Gallagher	120	0.32	$295.28
Total valid votes			37,199	100.00
Total rejected ballots			138
Turnout			37,337	60.32
Electors on the lists			61,903

Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

2004 federal election : Brandon—Souris edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Merv Tweed	18,209	51.72	$54,284.31
	Liberal	Murray Downing	8,522	24.21	$26,903.84
	New Democratic Party	Mike Abbey	6,740	19.15	$13,512.95
	Green	David Kattenburg	1,264	3.59	$1,322.83
	Christian Heritage	Colin Atkins	351	1.00	$683.41
	Communist	Lisa Gallagher	118	0.34	$665.22
Total valid votes			35,204	100.00
Total rejected ballots			194
Turnout			35,398	56.24
Electors on the lists			62,938

Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative percentages from 2000. Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

External links

• Merv Tweed
• How'd They Vote?
• Parliament Webpage

Persondata
Name	Tweed, Merv
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 6, 1955
Place of birth	Medora, Manitoba
Date of death
Place of death