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EXHIBIT 5

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-14(a) or RULE 15d-14(a)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

I, John E. Maguire, certify that:



|1. |  | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 40-F of CanWest Global
Communications Corp.;
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|2. |  | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
covered by this report;
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|3. |  | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
financial information included in this report, fairly present in all
material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
cash flows of the issuer as of, and for, the periods presented in this
report;
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|4. |  | The issuers other certifying officer and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and have:
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| | a) |  | Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed
under our supervision, to ensure that material information
relating to the issuer, including its consolidated subsidiaries,
is made known to us by others within those entities particularly
during the period in which this report is being prepared;
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| | b) |  | Evaluated the effectiveness of the issuers disclosure
controls and procedures and presented in this report our
conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
report based on such evaluation; and
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| | c) |  | Disclosed in this report any change in the issuers
internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
the period covered by the annual report that has materially
affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
issuers internal control over financial reporting; and
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|5. |  | The issuers other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based
on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
reporting, to the issuers auditors and the audit committee of the
issuers board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):
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| | a) |  | All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in
the design or operation of internal control over financial
reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
issuers ability to record, process, summarize and report
financial information; and
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| | b) |  | Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
management or other employees who have a significant role in the
issuers internal control over financial reporting.
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Date: December 23, 2003

/s/ JOHN E. MAGUIRE

Chief Financial Officer