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Ottawa, Canada - A court action by the Innu Nation against the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Royal Netherlands Air Force to prevent military supersonic test flights over Innu territory in Labrador has been suspended, following discussions yesterday between the Department of National Defense and the Innu of Quebec and Labrador. The Department of National Defense has agreed to defer a decision on the test flights until next year to undertake consultations with the Innu.

Military flight training over 130,000 square kilometres of Labrador and northeastern Quebec has been conducted by European countries under a Multinational Memorandum of Understanding (MMOU) from Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay since the early 1980s. The majority of the approximately 6000 annual training flights are conducted by fighter jets flying at low level (less than 100 feet above ground level). Innu people have long opposed military activities over their homeland, primarily due to concerns about the impacts of jet noise and pollution on humans and wildlife. DND had planned to conduct tests this summer to introduce supersonic fighter training in the low-level areas, an activity not currently permitted under the MMOU.

"The bottom line is that DND has agreed that the test flights are not going to go ahead this year", stated Innu Nation President Peter Penashue. "We've therefore decided not to proceed with the court case, and to instead sit down with DND to talk about their proposals. We will try to resolve the issues that led us to the courts in the first place during these consultations, but we will be keeping our other options open."

In addition to ongoing consultations, DND and the Innu agreed to establish a technical working group to examine the environmental and human health issues associated with supersonic flights. The Institute for Environmental Monitoring and Research and the Province of Newfoundland will also participate in the technical work.

"Our goal for the coming months is to sit down with DND, the Institute and the Province to examine the issues and the potential impacts of supersonic flights with all of the expertise we need to get answers to the questions that we have about this new kind of training. Once we have the information, we will be in a better position to decide what our next steps will be.", concluded Penashue.

Stephan Fuller is an environmental consultant, essayist and critic based in Sydenham, Ontario Canada