Mercedes Stephenson is Global News’ Ottawa Bureau Chief and the host of the network’s flagship national political affairs program and Canada’s number one political show The West Block.  Leading Global News’ coverage from the nation’s capital, Stephenson interviews the biggest names in Canadian and international politics.

Stephenson has distinguished herself as one of Canada’s foremost voices in political, defence and foreign policy journalism and has broken numerous exclusive stories that have led to accountability and change. In February of 2021 Stephenson broke the story of sexual misconduct at the highest ranks of the Canadian Armed Forces that led to service and criminal charges against senior brass and promises to overhaul military culture from the armed forces and government. She has reported from around the world including from the wars in Ukraine and Afghanistan, as well as from Moldova, Poland, Latvia, France, Japan, Washington DC, Mali and Niger where she was the first and remains the only television reporter to ever have been embedded with the Canadian Special Operations Forces.

She holds a Masters degree in Strategic Studies from the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary focusing on Information Operations in Afghanistan. She studied political journalism at Georgetown University, interned at the Pentagon and conducted research for her masters degree in part at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (M.I.T) Center for International Studies.

Stephenson is the recipient of the prestigious 2022 Charles Lynch Award For Outstanding Coverage of National Affairs and is a 2022 Michener Award nominee.