There are three things I will not miss should I ever decide to leave Rankin Inlet and Kivalliq News. Those are: the cost of living in Rankin, the ridiculous amounts of money we're forced to spend on things such as cell and Internet service which don't deliver a service anywhere near the cost, and the lack of professionalism when trying to deal with the Government of Nunavut (GN) in any meaningful way.

The truth of the matter is, I'm lucky to have had as many years writing in newspapers when journalists had trust and respect.

Don't get me wrong, today's media has brought the distrust upon itself. What passes for news online today gives me some very bad feelings.

Journalists used to be the minders, but, today, I can't help but wonder who's minding the minders.

And, to make matters worse, the majority of today's journalists remind me of the humour that once surrounded party supporters. You can put a Tory and a Liberal in a room together and let them argue away the hours, but when you open the door at the end of the day, you're still going to have a Tory and a Liberal come out.

Too many of today's journalists have their minds all ready made up on a host of topics. The best argument in the world could be presented to them on a given topic and they'd spend all their time arguing against the argument, rather than processing the information.

On the other side of the fence, press secretaries, spin doctors and gag orders, keep the modern media in its place most of the time.

And, for honest scribes, it's frustrating as hell.

Operation Nanook recently took place in Rankin Inlet and I spent an afternoon SA国际影视传媒渁ttemptingSA国际影视传媒� to interview the good folks on the ground.

Some stuttered, some turned pale, some were very impressive with their ability to repeat the party line right down to pausing where the commas were when they read it. Some simply walked away, but none would consent to an interview.

When Coral Harbour recently hosted the territorial trials in Arctic sports for the upcoming Arctic Winter Games (AWG), bad weather prevented the entire group from Chesterfield Inlet including star athlete, Andrew Bell, from competing at the event.

I try not get caught up in the win-at-all-costs hype, and I also firmly believe there are far more benefits to attending the AWG than counting the number of ulus you win.

And, given my history as a hockey official, you better believe I subscribe to the theory of rules being put in place for a reason, which is not so that they can be broken.

That said, what are the rules when the Kivalliq equal of the Great One in Arctic sports cannot attend the AWG because of bad weather? Is there any sort of appeal process?

These are policy questions that should get answered in the blink of an eye, but, my hopes for an interview got ignored for three days by all but one man. Try as he may, he did not have the authority to grant a policy interview.

I miss the days of co-operation, when there were rules to the game.

Oh well, there are other pressing issues in the world to be sure. I wonder what type of shoes Ivanka is wearing today?