Raising hackles: why can’t the CAF help stepping on their own dicks?

Protecting the military’s reputation should never take priority over actually handling an issue, like that of the service members involved in a Facebook group sharing antisemitic, homophobic, and misogynistic material.

The self-proclaimed ‘Blue Hackle Mafia’ Facebook group posted images of male soldiers in uniform exposing their genitals, others posing naked with Canadian Forces weapons, or simulating sexual acts with each other in uniform. Photograph courtesy of Facebook first published by The Ottawa Citizen

Opinion

BY SCOTT TAYLOR

July 14, 2025

OTTAWA—On the surface, the recent “Blue Hackle Mafia” Facebook group scandal is an embarrassment to the individuals involved, their regiment—the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa (Duke of Edinburgh's Own)—and, by extension, the Canadian Army and the Armed Forces in gen...

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