Inuvik (Jan 12/07) - Fred Church would like to change the name of a street to honour those who fought for Canada.

The former Legion president is suggesting Distributor Street be renamed Veteran Road. He said renaming that street makes sense.

"The Royal Canadian Legion, the RCMP, a government building and the former Armed Forces office are all located on Distributor," said Church.

"It's for the honour of the veterans, our comrades who have passed on and made the supreme sacrifice."

Church said the name change could be significant not just for Inuvik veterans, but also for those in other communities.

"A lot of people served for the military from nearby communities like Fort McPherson, Aklavik, Tsiigehtchic," said Church.

Church wrote a letter to town council, outlining his suggestion for honouring the veterans.

"I wrote a letter to the mayor, who passed it on to the council," said Church. "It's their decision now."

Although a decision had not been made by press deadline, deputy mayor Chris Larocque said he is in favour of the name change.

"It seems like a good way to remember our fallen veterans," said Larocque.

Larocque thinks the name change makes sense because of the offices and buildings on the street.

"It would be good for the people who served and are still in town," said Larocque.

Mayor Derek Lindsay agreed that a street should be named for veterans.

"I think one of our roads should be named after the veterans, but I'm not too sure about Distributor," said Lindsay.

"The name holds historical value with people in town."

Distributor Street was named after an old paddle- wheeler boat that brought young students to Inuvik from outlying communities.

Town councillor George Doolittle said council should keep the history of the existing name in mind when making its decision.

"The name was given because of the significance of the boat to the town," said Doolittle.

"We can't just arbitrarily change names like this."

Doolittle said he isn't against naming a street for veterans, he just wants it to be another road in town.

"Why should we just throw out the history of the paddlewheeler?" asked Doolittle.