Leaders from different races speaking different languages met in Fredericton, New Brunswick, this week to send a common message to the Canadian military and other NATO countries — “Don’t train your pilots and shoot your guns over our land.”

The word came from French-speaking New Brunswickers from the Acadian Peninsula, and from representatives of Labrador’s Innucq, natives whose language is related to the Inuit of the Northwest Territories.

The two groups, including officials of the 1,600-member Comite du Non (the No Committee), sat down to reinforce each other’s cause. They said it really was the same cause.

Both groups drew parallels to the standoff between soldiers and Mohawks in Quebec. They said they, too, have been pushed around too often by the federal government.

The Comite du Non (the No Committee) is fighting the proposed expansion of the 40,000-acre Tracadie military firing range that would triple the size of the shooting area on New Brunswick’s Acadian east coast. The military apparently wants to expand the artillery range to include missiles and to train soldiers to defend against low-level aircraft attack.

In Labrador, pilots from Canada and other NATO nations practice low-level attack and maneuvering skills.

“We understand what the Innu are going through — the same thing is happening to us,” said Denis Laveille, who lives in St. Isidore, a mile from the Tracadie range.

Spokesman Raphael Gregoire said that to 10,000 Innu, Labrador was nitassinan — “homeland” — hunting and fishing grounds extending in a wide band across Labrador and northern Quebec. The Indian and French-speaking groups say peace of mind and economic expansion are at stake.

Gregoire said low-level flights frighten game and disturb his people’s traditional way of life. With the Cold War over, there was no reason for NATO pilots to practice tactics in Canada’s north, he added. “It’s ridiculous to have pilots of the West German air force practicing techniques to attack East German towns when they will be reunited in a few weeks,” he said.

Leveille, a former chairman of the Comite du Non, lent his group’s support to the Innu. Tracadie area residents were never compensated for loss of land to the military five decades ago. They need more space for economic development, said Leveille, a retired Montreal policeman. He said he moved to St. Isidore five years ago “for the peace and quiet.”

“The name of our committee in English, `No,’ means we’re saying `no’ to maintenance and expansion of the Tracadie range. We mean to have it closed and cleaned up. Someone found an exploded shell in a back yard two miles from the range 10 days ago. There are 11 villages and 15,000 people in the area. We need the space for blueberry farming, forestry, tourists and outdoor recreation,” he said.

Gregoire and six other Innu were walking through the province en route to Ottawa, where they hoped to stage a mass rally against low-level flights on Remembrance Day, Nov. 11.

The federal government has scheduled public hearings in the area next month to determine the environmental effect of the proposed range expansion. Army, government and No Committee officials will attend.