In recent weeks, independent conservative content creators have come under intense scrutiny.
But this scrutiny is different.
Rather than coming from Liberals or the CBC, it has been coming from fellow conservatives. More specifically, establishment conservatives.
Among those levelling harsh criticism is former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, who has accused independent creators of being anti-Canadian and “profoundly ignorant of and hostile” to the country’s history. He has also accused them of producing “quisling slop,” as well as being “MAGA North” and “toxic anger merchants.”
Kenney has personally attacked commentators Jasmin Laine, who has 225,000 YouTube subscribers and more than 68 million views; Nick Belanger, known to his fans as The Pleb Reporter, who has 262,000 YouTube subscribers and more than 44 million views; and Marc Nixon, who has 81,000 YouTube subscribers and more than 62 million views.
Kenney is not the only establishment conservative taking aim at independent creators.
Kory Teneycke, a senior adviser to Ontario Premier Doug Ford and CEO of the lobbying firm Rubicon Strategy, said independent creators are “absolute Taliban types in terms of their ideological perspective on things, most of which is frankly not conservative.”
Writer and political commentator Spencer Fernando, meanwhile, has accused independent creators of siding with U.S. President Donald Trump over their own country, blamed them for the Conservative Party’s loss in the Chicoutimi—Le Fjord by-election, and called on the party to completely cut ties with the independent voices he does not like.
The Rising Influence of Independent Voices
Last year, a report by the Canadian Digital Media Research Network found that during the 2025 federal election, independent creators overtook legacy media outlets and party campaigns in generating public engagement with political issues on social media.
The study defined an independent political creator as “a person or group who consistently produces political content and has the power to shape public opinion.”
The study found that independent creators produced 47% of the political content examined during the election, compared with 28% from news organizations and just 18% from politicians.
Meanwhile, the latest report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that, for the first time, Canadians are consuming more news through social media and video platforms than through traditional sources.
This shift comes as trust in Canadian legacy media reaches a record low.
According to the same Reuters report, just 37% of Canadians trust the legacy media, a decline of 21 percentage points since 2018. Among English-speaking Canadians, trust stands at only 35%.
This is partly because Canada’s legacy media, much of which is funded by the Liberal government, fails to represent all Canadians.
In last year’s election, 41% of voters cast their ballots for Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives. Yet their views are rarely represented fairly by the legacy media. These outlets routinely advance Liberal narratives, and on the occasions when conservative perspectives are included, they are often articulated by corporate lobbyists who claim to speak for conservatives while undermining the movement by echoing those Liberal narratives.
That is why I began creating political content when I was 17-years-old, which has now turned into a six year career in independent media. I was sick and tired of not seeing my views represented, and I could no longer remain on the sidelines and merely complain. I wanted to help the landscape.
The Elites vs. The People
If independent creators are increasingly popular with Canadians, including large numbers of Conservative voters, why is the Conservative establishment going after them?
The answer is simple: power.
The 2020s have shown the conservative establishment that one cannot obtain control of Conservative parties without the support of the independent media that the grassroots consumes and supports.
Peter MacKay, the former minister of justice and attorney general whom almost everyone expected to win the 2020 Conservative Party leadership race, chose not to engage with independent media. He even ran away from Juno News co-founder Keean Bexte, who worked for Rebel News at the time. Despite securing the most caucus endorsements and an endorsement from the Toronto Star, MacKay lost.
Erin O’Toole, who won that leadership race after engaging with independent media, subsequently banned Rebel News from his rallies during the 2021 federal election campaign. He lost the election, while a considerable portion of the Conservative base voted for the People’s Party of Canada.
More recently, political commentator Caroline Elliott, widely expected to win the 2026 Conservative Party of British Columbia leadership race, decided to skip a leadership debate hosted by Juno News. She went on to lose to Kerry-Lynne Findlay, who participated in the debate. Elliott’s campaign was managed by Teneycke and endorsed by Kenney, both of whom are now attacking independent voices.
Elliott lost to Findlay by just 60 votes. I have personally spoken with people in BC who said her decision to skip the debate, and the resulting criticism and scrutiny from independent creators, prompted them to switch their support from Elliott to other candidates.
It is therefore reasonable to conclude that independent media played a role in Elliott’s defeat. Despite raising a record amount of money and receiving high-profile endorsements, Elliott lost the race because she boycotted a debate hosted by independent media.
The internet has ushered in a new era of grassroots democracy. This is the new normal, but it is one the establishment is struggling to accept. That is why they are attacking independent creators in a desperate, last-ditch effort to reclaim control of a political party and movement whose destiny now rests in the hands of ordinary Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
Interesting the Kenney would accuse anyone of being a Quisling. Quisling should be the title of his Linked In Profile.
The paid political opposition (uniparty) can't handle having the people seeing and hearing the truth with the facts included. They're know the lsm are losing it's control over the narrative and that's showing us how little their words matter. There are to many of us that know how their games are being played and it's a joke to hear all their whining but looks good on them. These are the people that MUST be kept away from a independent Alberta if the vote goes that way.
On a side note the AWARDS goes to the ALL the independent creators doing all the hard work giving We the People the truth.