Victoria’s David Black could soon become Canada’s biggest newspaper baron.

According to a March 4 Globe and Mail report, Black is making a play for Canwest Limited Partnership’s 46 newspapers, which include the National Post, the Vancouver Sun, the Province, the Ottawa Citizen, and the Montreal Gazette.

Black’s Black Press already controls 22 newspapers in the Lower Mainland, including the WestEnder, the North Shore Outlook, the Richmond Review, and the Leader papers in Burnaby, New Westminster, and Surrey-North Delta.

This news came on the heels of Leonard Asper, Canwest Global Communication Corp.’s chief executive officer, announcing his resignation from the media empire that was founded by his late father, Izzy Asper.

The official explanation for Asper’s resignation is to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in Canwest’s restructuring process. However, a Toronto Star report suggests that the move is more about Asper regaining control of the debt-laden media empire and holding on to Canwest Global’s television assets, which includes the Global Television network.

For years, Canwest Global has been staggering under the weight of an estimated $4 billion debt. And since October 6, the Winnipeg-based company has been operating under protection from its creditors.

The deadline to submit bids for Canwest Global’s print assets—controlled by Canwest LP—is tomorrow (March 5).

Black—no relation to Conrad Black—is reported to be one of half a dozen potential bidders for Canwest LP.

You can follow Travis Lupick on Twitter at twitter.com/tlupick.