The recently suspended commander of an army reserve regiment whose members ran a racist and misogynistic Facebook group also holds a high-ranking position at Fintrac, The Logic has learned.

Ryan Hendy is assistant deputy director of supervision operations at the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Fintrac), the agency that ensures businesses and individuals comply with laws against money laundering, and provides intelligence to police and national security agencies.

Hendy, who holds the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the reserves, was suspended last week from his role as commanding officer of the Ottawa-based regiment while the military investigates. He disclosed the situation to Fintrac, and the agency is “following the issue closely to ensure compliance” with its code of conduct, spokesperson Lori Blair said in an email. Hendy continues to hold his position at the centre, and has worked there as early as 2006.

National Defence spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin declined to say whether Hendy was removed as the commanding officer of the regiment because he participated in the Facebook group, or because it was active on his watch.

At Fintrac, Hendy reports to the head of the division responsible for ensuring compliance among the thousands of banks, fintechs and other businesses that must report suspicious transactions to the centre. Many of the small money transmitters his division oversees serve diaspora communities and marginalized groups. 

He has also appeared in public for the organization, representing it at conferences and travelling to Kenya in 2023 in support of an international anti-poaching effort. He spoke about that initiative while introducing a documentary about the rhino trade at its Toronto premiere in 2024.

Hendy did not respond to The Logic’s multiple requests for comment through his work number and email. In his voicemail, he said he is “currently away from the office” and suggested callers reach out to a colleague in his absence. That colleague agreed to forward The Logic’s contact information to Hendy.

Earlier this month, the Ottawa Citizen published screenshots from a Facebook group called the “Blue Hackle Mafia,” whose members were reservists with the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, showing soldiers exposing their genitals in uniform and antisemitic comments. The group included discussions about raping grandmothers and contained racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks, the Citizen reported. 

Whistleblowers filed complaints about the group’s offensive content to Hendy and others, the Citizen reported, but army commander Lt.-Gen. Michael Wright didn’t learn of it until the newspaper asked him for comment in late June. Wright described the content posted to the group as “abhorrent.” The army removed Hendy from his position on July 16 and appointed an interim commanding officer to lead the Cameron Highlanders, pending an investigation by the institution and military police, according to an internal statement Poulin shared with The Logic.

Regardless of whether Hendy participated in the group, the situation raises questions about his leadership in the public service, said Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, the vice-president of Ottawa operations at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. 

“I would do a workplace investigation, for the simple reason that it’s not about the values in this group and whether he shared them, but how he would address HR issues like this one,” said Duval-Lantoine, who has spent years studying the culture of Canada’s military. 

Extremism and sexual violence are recurring—some say systemic—issues in the Canadian military. Reports investigating the military’s culture in recent years have called on the armed forces to do more to address racism and sexual harassment, and root out white supremacists and other violent hate groups in their ranks.

Duval-Lantoine said the concern with reservists—many of whom hold day jobs—is that problematic military culture can carry over into their civilian lives. “Did [Hendy] have similar problems at Fintrac where maybe certain human resources issues, harassment issues, problems of equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace came to his attention, and then he swept it under the rug?” she said. “This is where I would ask myself questions.”

Duval-Lantoine said the agency shouldn’t wait for the results of the military investigation, for the protection of Fintrac staff.

Hendy and his wife, who is also a reservist, were held up as an “exemplary service couple,” in a social media post by the Canadian Forces Liaison Council in 2020. “Both of their civilian employers consider these pursuits directly relevant to their respective careers, which gives the Hendys a professional edge in the workplace,” the council’s post said. 

The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa is the city’s official regiment, tasked with providing ceremonial honour guards for visiting dignitaries and national ceremonies. Hendy will remain as a member of the regiment while the military investigation takes place, Poulin said in a statement. The group’s former commanding officer Lt.-Col. Gord Scharf, who is also the partnerships director for financial institutions at Export Development Canada, is currently listed as the head of the regiment on the Highlanders’ federal government webpage. 

This story was updated to add Hendy’s current status in the regiment.