Ben Mulroney unfit to host The West Block

Mr. Mulroney’s overlapping roles — as a paid political event host, a donor and fundraiser for the Conservative Party, an ambassador for a registered lobby group, and an adviser to private companies — constitute clear violations of these standards. His actions create not only a real conflict of interest but also the perception of bias, both of which are grounds for CBSC complaints.

If Global proceeds with Mr. Mulroney as host of The West Block, it risks undermining public trust in Global News’ compliance with CBSC codes. Global News should expect formal complaints for breaching standards of fairness, accuracy, and independence if it does not course correct immediately.

Dear Doug Murphy, Michael Goldberg, and George Browne,

I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) to express serious concerns about the decision to hire Ben Mulroney as the host of The West Block.

The West Block is expected to be accurate, fair, and balanced as required by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) and reflected in Global’s Journalistic Principles and Practices. Global’s Ethical Code of Professional Conduct states: “Employees will conduct themselves on and off the job in such a way as to avoid any perception of bias or conflict of interest.” With Ben Mulroney as host, it appears these standards are being cast aside.

How can Mr. Mulroney avoid any perception of bias when:

He has made personal donations to the Conservative Party and even hosted partisan campaign events for Conservative candidates;
He attended exclusive fundraisers for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre alongside wealthy business elites;
He simultaneously works for Aurora Strategy Global, a registered lobbying firm, offering “behind-the-scenes strategic advice” to corporate clients while presenting himself as a political commentator;
He has been appointed as an “Ambassador” for B’nai Brith Canada — a registered lobby group that advances pro-Israel policy positions with the federal government — which has publicly celebrated his pro-Israel interventions;
He promotes businesses in which he has financial interests on Global News’ own airwaves, blurring the lines between journalism, lobbying, and advertising;
He publicly denies he is a journalist, seemingly to avoid accountability under Global’s journalistic standards, even while occupying one of Canada’s more prominent political affairs programs.

Many of the above revelations come from a PressProgress analysis.

To make matters worse, Mr. Mulroney has a public track record of sharing racist misinformation. On the September 23, 2025, episode of The Ben Mulroney Show, Mulroney referenced a tweet that claimed Canada recognized Palestine because the population of “Muslim voters in Canada” has increased to “2,000,000” and “rising daily” — he called this tweet “insightful.” The tweet is inflammatory and false, the total population (not “voters”) of Muslim identifying people in Canada was 1.78 million in 2021, according to Statistics Canada. Further, the tweet was intended to spread Islamophobic fears that Muslim influence is dictating Canadian foreign policy, hence why the author’s previous tweet read, “Islam is not a religion but a manifesto of rape, domination, conquest, forced conversions, slavery, sex with 9 years olds [sic] and murder of one’s enemies.” The tweet’s Islamophobic message is undeniable.

Such comments by Mulroney fuel Islamophobia and racial bias, and they cannot be brushed aside when considering his suitability for hosting a national political news program.

Ben Mulroney has compared the well-founded claim that there is a genocide in Gaza to flat earth theory. After being publicly challenged, he doubled down on the claim despite the United Nations concluding an independent investigation on September 16, 2025, which found that Israel is committing genocide. While talk radio hosts can give their opinion on current events, there is an expectation that these opinions at least be grounded in fact. In our view, Mulroney’s position is so extreme that it fails this basic standard. It is difficult to imagine such views being tolerated in other contexts, but anti-Palestinian racism is rampant and acceptable in our establishment media.

Taken together, these facts paint a troubling picture. The West Block should be a forum for fair-minded political discussion, not a platform for someone whose financial, political, and lobbying ties so obviously compromise journalistic neutrality.

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) requires broadcasters to ensure that programming is accurate, fair, and unbiased, as set out in the Code of Ethics and the Journalistic Independence Code. These codes explicitly prohibit broadcasters from airing content where personal, political, or financial interests compromise the fairness or impartiality of programming.

The Radio Television Digital News Association of Canada’s Code of Journalistic Ethics (2016) specifies in its section on “Integrity” that journalists must “govern [themselves] on and off the job in a manner that avoids conflict of interest, real or perceived. When conflicts are unavoidable, they should be disclosed.” While Ben Mulroney insists he is not a journalist, previous hosts of The West Block have been journalists, and the show presents itself as a serious news program.

We urge Global News to reconsider this decision and ensure that The West Block lives up to the standards of fairness, independence, and integrity that Canadians expect.

Sincerely,

Jason Toney

Director of Media Advocacy, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

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