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Prominent aboriginals in B.C., including Chief Ernie Crey and Janine Cunningham, are in Ottawa this week pressing for men to be included in the Inquiry Into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women.

They’re calling their coalition, Expand the Inquiry.

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It’s part of the so-called “Necktie movement” started by Lydia Daniels, a member of the Long Plain First Nation in Manitoba, whose son Colten Pratt has been missing since 2014.

The Expand the Inquiry coalition recognizes that 70 per cent of murdered indigenous Canadians have been men and boys.

Aboriginal males in B.C. have also been found to be seven times more likely than aboriginal females to commit suicide.

I first wrote about aboriginal efforts on behalf of men and boys in this column on Jan. 20th, 2016,citing the startling and disturbing research of UBC professor Adam Jones, and the concerns of aboriginal social worker/educator Janine Cunningham.