 In September 2014 he resigned as a Member of the Canadian House of Commons to accept an appointment from Alberta Premier Jim Prentice to be the province's envoy to the United States in Washington, D.C. where he will lobby for approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.His accomplishments included revitalizing Marine Atlantic with two new ferries, initiating Canada Post's postal transformation, and overseeing the rollout of Transport Canada's Alberta and Saskatchewan infrastructure funds as a part of Canada's Economic Action Plan.Merrifield was first elected to represent Yellowhead in 2000.