As a youth, he attended a boarding school run by Oblate priests.
He joined the Canadian Armed Forces and served with them for 25 years in the Combat Systems Engineering Department in the Canadian Armed Forces attaining the rank of Chief Petty Officer 1st Class.
[3] Hnatiuk was a candidate in the November 9th by-election in the riding of Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, to replace independent Member of Parliament Bill Casey.
He came in fifth, losing to Scott Armstrong of the Conservative Party of Canada.
In his professional life, he operated the largest hunting, fishing and taxidermy business in Nova Scotia.