‘The Road to Somewhere’ deserves your consideration

Updated on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. ET

Here’s hoping the election gets stolen with a write-in entry!

No, not the high-stakes showdown unfolding in the United States. And not even Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s presidential election in December.

The City of Iqaluit is holding an online naming contest for the new road being built to Aqqusariaq, Nunavut’s future recovery centre. The centre is under construction on a street that branches off from the Road to Apex, opposite the Arctic Winter Games Arena.

“The Road to Somewhere” is a surprise entry in the city’s contest that deserves some consideration. It also showed up as a suggestion in the online comments section of this paper, courtesy of a reader identified simply as Joanasie.

When Nunatsiaq News learned of the city’s naming contest, reporter Jeff Pelletier took a picture of the road with the recovery centre’s construction site in the background.

That standalone picture ran online with the headline Iqaluit: What should this street be named? It also appears on Page 7 of this week’s print edition.

Naturally, our readers had some clever ideas of their own to share in the online comments section, including the predictable Streety McStreetface. A couple of U2 fans chimed in with the equally predictable Where the Streets Have No Name.

But the beauty of The Road to Somewhere leapt off the screen.

In Iqaluit, the curiously named Road to Nowhere has become an iconic address. Fridge magnets in the shape of a street sign that says Road to Nowhere are available for sale as souvenirs.

There are hoodies on sale at the airport gift shop that pay tribute to the almost-famous street.

Stickers and postcards also cash in on the peculiar name.

So, when someone suggested the Road to Somewhere, it sounded like a parody of the Road to Nowhere.

But the people who will be going to the recovery centre for help overcoming alcohol and drug addiction will be going there because they want to make a big, important change in their lives. To get to somewhere different. Somewhere new. Somewhere better.

What more poetic, inspiring way to start that journey of healing than by taking the first step on the Road to Somewhere?

Iqaluit city council’s two official suggestions in the naming contest are Saagiatuq Road, after elder Nash Sagiatook, who named Aqqusariaq, as well as Sukaliareaq, which means “the way to Suka,” the city’s website says.

But the city’s contest also has a place — under “other” — for people to submit write-in candidates. There appears to be some overlap between Nunatsiaq’s commenters and the city page since Roady McRoadface also makes an appearance under “other.”

Saagiatuq Road and Sukaliareaq are solid choices. Deserving candidates.

But they could be honoured with another road near the recovery centre.

There’s a unique chance to be truly poetic with the name of this road while playing off with the popularity of the existing Road to Nowhere.

The Road to Somewhere is worthy of consideration.

Correction: This article has been altered from its originally published version to correct an error in how souvenir Road to Nowhere magnets are distributed.