Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 12/04) - The Canadian government should consult with aboriginal groups before making a decision on whether or not to station United States missiles in the North, says the head of Dene Nation.

"Who is Paul Martin ... to make a decision like that on our behalf?" asked Noeline Villebrun last week.

"It's something that concerns us very much."

Villebrun's comments came just two weeks after Defence Minister David Pratt announced the government is considering letting the U.S. place interceptor rockets and radar stations on Canadian soil as part of America's controversial missile defence shield.

"(We're considering) making geography in the North available in lieu of a cash contribution if Canada decides to join (the program)," Pratt told the Globe and Mail last month.

While Pratt wouldn't elaborate on which part of the North the government had in mind, the NWT's history of military installations suggests it is a likely candidate.

During the Cold War, the United States Air Force helped build and operate the Distance Early Warning (DEW) Line, a series of more than 50 radar stations stretching from Alaska to Greenland.

The system was designed to detect Russian missiles and bombers crossing the North Pole en route to the U.S.

The NWT was also home to radar stations on the Pine Tree Line and the Mid-Canada Line, two other early warning systems.

However, unlike those installations, the U.S.'s controversial $57 billion defence shield will use interceptor rockets to blast incoming ballistic missiles out of the sky, a prospect that worries Villebrun.

"What if they miss?" she wondered. "There's a perception in the south that the North is unoccupied, which isn't the case. We can't take the chance of a missile landing (in a community)."

The missile defence program has been criticized by opponents in the US and Canada and questions have been raised about its cost and effectiveness.

The Bush administration argues the system is necessary to eliminate the threat of a missile attack from "rogue" nations like North Korea.

It's expected the system won't be operational for at least three years.

Villebrun was disappointed that no one from the federal government contacted her group before Pratt made his comments to the Globe and Mail.

"It looks like, once again, there was no consultation (with the North) at all," said Villebrun.