Manitoba Tory MP quits to lead oil-by- rail scheme
Merv Tweed will lead efforts to ship crude through Churchill
OTTAWA — A Manitoba MP who served as chairman of the House of Commons transport committee until last fall will head up a rail company that hopes to ship western crude oil through northern Canada.
Merv Tweed was appointed Monday as president of OmniTRAX Canada Inc., hours after resigning his Commons seat.
The Conservative MP for Brandon-Souris says he will leave his seat at the end of the month.
Tweed brings a “wealth of knowledge” to the rail company, OmniTRAX chief executive Kevin Shuba said in a news release.
Two companies owned by OmniTRAX — Hudson Bay Railway and Hudson Bay Port Co. — are hoping to ship crude oil by rail through the port of Churchill, Canada’s only Arctic deepwater seaport.
The proposal is said to be an alternative to the controversial Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipeline plans, which have been met with escalating resistance from environmental critics and First Nations protesters.
Shipping oil by rail, however, is no less controversial, particularly in light of the recent Lac Mégantic freighttrain disaster in Quebec, where runaway tanker cars derailed and touched off fiery explosions that killed 47 people.
While not specifically mentioning crude shipments, Tweed said Monday he looks forward to helping OmniTRAX expand its operations in the North. “This is an enterprising organization that has served northern Canada well since 1997,” Tweed said.
Tweed, 58, was elected chairman of Commons standing committee on transport, infrastructure and communities in 2006 and held the post until September of last year.
He was first elected as an MP in 2004 and was re-elected in each of three subsequent federal elections.