Brother of fallen Inuvik soldier touched by new road name

The name of a deceased soldier from Inuvik may soon adorn an unnamed road near the town's airport.

Cpl. Jordan Anderson grew up in many northern communities including Inuvik, N.W.T., and died in Afghanistan in 2007 at the age of 25 while serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.

His name was chosen out of seven others put up for a vote by the town in a survey, after the Department of National Defence — which operates a terminal near the road — asked for the road to be named.

Anderson Road won with 336 votes. There were 857 people who cast a vote in total.

Matt Millett, president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 220 in Inuvik, was behind the formal nomination.

"We'd been discussing doing something on our own as a memorial for Cpl. Anderson," said Millett.

"When this came up it kind of seemed like a perfect opportunity to tie into that."

'It's really touching'

Matthew Anderson, Jordan's younger brother, said he was touched to hear the news.

"It was ... a really personal thing, to hear that so many people in Inuvik remembered my brother and wanted to honour him this way," Matthew said.

He described his brother as a "really tough dude," who was smart, well-educated and informed, and loved to read.

"[It] was really tough to get in an argument with him, because even if you felt like you won, then he might just beat you up," he said with a laugh, adding his brother also had a "really inherently gentle side to him."

"We fought all the time, he always won," he said of his relationship to Jordan growing up.

He remembers skiing as a family together, along with summer trips to the family's farm and barbecues.

Matthew said he learned about maturity from his brother and how to be strong when the moment calls for it.

When Jordan got married, Matthew remembered asking Jordan why he wanted to wear his uniform. He said Jordan told him he worked hard to earn his badges, and it tells everyone the risks he goes through so that Canadians can enjoy their freedoms.

Matthew said his whole family is touched by the new road name.

"Our family spent a lot of time in the North ... To now just know there's a road there with our name on it, it's really touching," he said.

"I know Jordan would be appreciative."

Name picked from multiple possibilities

The Department of National Defence initially brought forward two name possibilities for the road — "Ethel Street," after Dene politician Ethel Blondin-Andrew, the first Indigenous Canadian woman elected to Parliament and MP for the Western Arctic from 1988-2006.

They also put forward "Leona Street," for Leona Aglukkaq, who was born in Inuvik but lived most of her life in Nunavut. She's a former MP for Nunavut and was the federal minister of environment from 2013-2015.

However, after people vocalized they wanted the name to have stronger ties to Inuvik, the town opted to poll its residents with name choices submitted and voted on by residents.

Millett said Inuvik is a small community and many people will have a personal connection to Anderson Road.

"Going forward, the people who weren't here when he was around [will] always [be] aware of the sacrifice that he made," said Millett.

"It also shows that the community definitely doesn't want the family to ever think that they've forgotten."

Although Cpl. Anderson's family members have now moved from Inuvik, many still live in the North and visit the community.

Millett said the local legion has been discussing ways they can bring family members up for the road naming ceremony. Inuvik Mayor Natasha Kulikowski said that town council still needs to approve the name.

She said she's happy with the amount of participation that the survey received, and that it's important to town council to have residents have input in the names of their roads.

"It's a learning opportunity for other generations, when they ask about why that road is that name, we have a story that we can tell about someone who gave their life for our country," she said.