Canada should be ‘world leader’ on alternative PTSD therapies, veteran says

By Sean Boynton Global News
Posted November 10, 2024

WATCH: After being injured in Canada's longest, most expensive war effort, one veteran created and fundraised an exhibit to help ensure the efforts of those who served — and the memories those who died — aren't forgotten. Mercedes Stephenson explains  

A Canadian Forces veteran who served in Afghanistan says Canada should be a “world leader” on alternative therapies for treating veterans’ post-traumatic stress disorder and other post-combat trauma, including the use of psychedelics.

Retired MCpl. Gordon Hurley says psychedelic treatments such as ketamine and psilocybin, or “magic mushrooms,” can give veterans “a breath of relief” from their trauma or addictions, pointing to his own experience, and is calling for further study and coverage for physician-assisted therapies.

“I really think we’re in a unique position as a country, with such a liberal view on health care and life, that we should be able to be a world leader in providing alternative therapies,” he told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block ahead of Remembrance Day.

“We should be doing the same thing with our veterans just how you send us to war. A majority of the time we’re saying, ‘Send me, send me.’ We can do the same thing with these types of treatments.”

Hurley deployed to Afghanistan in the summer of 2008, just 15 months after joining the military and completing basic training. He was injured by an improvised explosive device but returned to the battlefield just three weeks after surgery.

2:21

Nova Scotia company to examine magic mushrooms as PTSD treatment



More than 40,000 Canadians served in Afghanistan, many on multiple tours during the 20-year global War on Terror, and 165 Canadian Armed Forces members died there.

Many veterans of that war returned to Canada suffering not just from PTSD but also traumatic brain injuries and effects from toxic burn pit exposure, among other traumas.

Research has suggested recent veterans have had a higher rate of mental health and addiction issues compared to older veterans and the overall Canadian population.

Veterans Affairs Canada is conducting research and clinical trials into the use of ketamine as a treatment for traumatic brain injuries and depression, but has yet to launch a similar project on psilocybin. Independent studies have been launched across Canada in recent years into psychedelic treatments

A Senate committee report last December urged the federal government to “immediately” conduct a “major research program” into how psychedelics can help veterans suffering from PTSD. The report said research already exists into the effectiveness of such treatments and warned Canada is falling behind other countries in studying them.

The United States has funded research into psychedelic treatments for veterans, but the U.S. FDA this year rejected an approval for MDMA treatment, calling for further study.

Briefing notes prepared for the veterans affairs minister last year say the department only provides financial coverage for treatments that are supported by solid research, and says approved psychological and psychiatric treatments are the “first-line evidence-based” approach to treating PTSD and other mental issues.

2:01

Psychedelics approved for medical use in Canada

“Western treatment is completely fine,” Hurley said. “There’s nothing wrong with prescription drugs or SSDIs (antidepressants), whatever is going to work to get that person off the ledge is worth it. But there are other treatment options.”

Hurley said he travels to Mexico to receive treatment through psychedelics through a clinic run by Canadian doctors, and touted their effectiveness.

Besides psychedelics, Hurley also pointed to a treatment known as stellate ganglion block, which numbs nerves in the neck and “basically resets your nervous system,” he said. The treatment has been studied at multiple Canadian hospitals and universities and has been called “miraculous” in treating PTSD.

“To get that initial breath and that initial pause where they don’t have the cravings for their addiction, or they don’t have the annoyances of trauma, of post-traumatic stress, of perhaps being too freaked out to go into public spaces or noises and all these other detriments to the veteran’s life … we could be fixing with different types of treatment,” he said.

Hurley said the government should particularly cover assisted treatment programs that allow doctors to work with patients and ensure veterans are taking the proper treatments and dosages.

“The doctor is going to have specific training to deal with psychedelics and how that integrates into a person’s life,” he said.

“We’re so new to it. It’s not anyone’s fault, but we should really be ahead of the curve on this.”

Psychedelic therapy provides hope for veterans

Story by Maya Goldman


Psychedelic therapy provides hope for veterans

Veterans are campaigning to take psychedelic therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder mainstream, despite the Food and Drug Administration's rejection of an ecstasy-based therapy in August.

Why it matters: About 29% of veterans who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq will have PTSD at some point in their lives, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veteran suicide rates are also higher than in the general population.

"The thirst is very palpable among our generation" of veterans for alternative mental health therapies, Allison Jaslow, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told Axios.

Catch up quick: Psychedelics like magic mushrooms, LSD and ecstasy can alter a person's state of mind and cause hallucinations.
It's been nearly impossible to research their effects, because they've been criminalized and classified as controlled substances since 1970.
But interest in psychedelics' potential to treat mental health conditions — particularly in veterans — has grown in recent years.
The FDA in 2017 granted fast-track review of a PTSD treatment that mixes ecstasy with talk therapy.

The VA started funding research into psychedelic therapies this year. Congress also passed bipartisan legislation directing the Pentagon to study the treatments.
In the meantime, more than 1,200 veterans traveled to other countries for psychedelic therapies through one nonprofit alone, said Jesse Gould, founder of that organization, Heroic Hearts Project.

But the FDA in August rejected the therapy it had originally fast-tracked, following an independent review that highlighted concerns like missing safety data and allegations of misconduct in clinical trials.

Zoom in: The decision felt like a major setback to veterans.
"It was emotionally just gut-wrenching, thinking about all of those veterans, and all the other people, for that matter, that were just really counting on being able to access this as a solution for their debilitating PTSD," said Juliana Mercer, a Marine Corps veteran and director at veterans advocacy group Healing Breakthrough.
The FDA rejection pushes mental health progress back years, added Gould, a former Army Ranger. It "indicates to veterans that they are not being listened to and they're not a priority."

Where it stands: Veterans are continuing to work toward broadening access to psychedelic therapies.
State-level action is also picking up. Oregon and Colorado have legalized psychedelic mushrooms for therapeutic use. But Massachusetts voters last week rejected a ballot proposal to legalize psychedelics.

What's next: The company behind the rejected ecstasy-based therapy now has a new acting CEO and chief medical officer, and it announced last month that it will run a new clinical trial on the PTSD treatment.

The VA has reportedly said it would consider funding the trial.
The FDA also fast-tracked review for a psychedelic mushroom therapy, though the company running that trial announced recently that it's delaying a key data release.

The new clinical trials will likely take at least two more years, Mercer predicted.
But the extended timeline means the VA "is going to be more prepared to effectively roll out a psychedelic program," she said. "I'm choosing to look at that as a silver lining."

Smoking toad venom helps veterans with PTSD, addiction, and depression

Allan Rose Hill
Mon Nov 11, 2024
BOING!BOING!


image: Deep Desert Photography/Shutterstock (manipulated)

Zach Skiles is a veteran and clinical psychologist who, informed by his own experiences, is helping other veterans deal with PTSD, depression, and drug addiction. As a researcher with University of California at San Francisco, Skiles leads veterans through psychedelic experiences to help alleviate some of their suffering. The participants are first given ibogaine—a natural stimulant with psychedelic properties found in the West African shrub iboga. After a long "group healing" session, they are administered 5-MeO-DMT, an extremely powerful and short-lasting psychedelic found in the venom of the Sonoran Desert toad. (Both compounds can also be synthesized in a laboratory.) Unfortunately. both of these compounds are illegal in the United States so the veterans must travel to Mexico for the actual treatments. In honor of Veteran's Day, the always-excellent Microdose republished Jan C. Hu's 2021 interview with Skiles:

What aspects of psychedelic therapy might help treat veterans in particular?

In treating PTSD, psychedelics enhance your ability to bring up trauma and simultaneously see it from different angles. Everything feels new, more revelatory and connected. There's the ability to take a step back and experience something in a totally new way.

One of the cooler things about psychedelic assisted therapies is you're not only getting those cognitive pieces, but you're also getting somatic, cathartic experiences at the same time. For people who've experienced sexual assault or combat exposure, you cut off a lot of sensation from your body and reconnecting to it is actually one of the main goals of all therapies. Having that experience along with these cognitive pieces is something that they call a codex condensed experience — it's happening in different constellations of the mind and body[…]

These therapies aren't legal in the U.S. What drove you and other vets to seek out these experiences in Mexico?

There's a bit of desperation; people have to leave the country to be able to get these therapies. These are folks who have spent careers in the U.S. Special Forces, with blast injuries or lesions on their brain. It's a group of folks who have tried every single therapy that's offered in the United States and have come up wanting more. They had to leave the country in order to have a therapeutic experience, and not be arrested for it.

It's important to give guys an ability to have the most up to date therapeutic access, but in the U.S.; it's also important for this to become regulated. We operate in the underground because that's the only place we can do this kind of thing.

Previously:
• FDA denies approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD
• These psychonauts are in training to take DMT trips that last hours or even days and report back… for science
• 'Please refrain from licking' toads, says National Park Service in unusual warning

 

I got my life back.' Veterans with PTSD making progress thanks to service dog program

'I got my life back'

Nick Ingram And Jim Salter, The Associated Press - Nov 11, 2024 /  | Story: 516791

AP Photo/Nick Ingram

Air Force Staff Sgt. Heather O'Brien holds her labradoodle service dog, Albus, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Kansas City, Kan.  

After working at a crowded and dangerous internment camp in Iraq, Air Force Staff Sgt. Heather O'Brien brought home with her anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

A bouncy labradoodle and a Kansas City-area program helped her get back on her feet.

Dogs 4 Valor, operated through the Olathe, Kansas-based organization called The Battle Within, helps retired veterans and first responders work with their service dogs to help manage depression, anxiety and other challenges.

“A lot of times the veteran with severe PTSD is homebound,” said Sandra Sindeldecker, program manager for Dogs 4 Valor. “They’re isolated. They’re very nervous. They won’t make eye contact. Some won’t leave the house at all.”

The program involves both group and one-on-one training. The goal is to get the veteran and the dog comfortable with each other and understanding each other. The group takes outings to help the veterans regain their footing in public places like airports. Program leaders also provide mental health therapy at no cost.

The veterans and dogs graduate in six to nine months, but group gatherings continue.

There is growing evidence of the value of service dogs for veterans with PTSD. A small study published in JAMA Network Open in June looked at a program operated by K9s For Warriors. Service dogs in the program are taught to pick up a veteran’s physical signs of distress and can interrupt panic attacks and nightmares with a loving nudge.

Researchers compared 81 veterans who received service dogs with 75 veterans on the waiting list for a trained dog. After three months, PTSD symptoms improved in both groups, but the veterans with dogs saw a bigger improvement on average.

O'Brien, 40, recalled that the camp where she worked in Iraq sometimes had over 20,000 detainees. Violence and rioting were common and it left her with severe anxiety.

“When I got out of the military, I just assumed that you’re supposed to be on edge all the time as a veteran,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien’s mother spotted the frisky lab-poodle mix on Facebook and convinced her daughter to adopt the dog she named Albus. Months later, O'Brien learned about Dogs 4 Valor, and the pair joined the program in October 2023.

O’Brien says she can now go out in public again — she even went on vacation to Branson, Missouri, “things that I never would have thought I would do really, probably ever again.”

Mark Atkinson, 38, served in Afghanistan as a corporal in the Marine Corps. He returned home with PTSD and major depressive disorder, causing sleeplessness and anxiety. He adopted Lexi, now 5, in 2020.

Lexi, a muscular cane corso breed, needed Atkinson as much as he needed her. Her previous owner had kept Lexi in chains before surrendering her. Since joining Dogs 4 Valor, the two can get out together and enjoy life.

“I don’t really like leaving the house because I’m safe there, you know?" Atkinson said. “And having Lexi has just made me get out to be more social.”

Having a group of fellow veterans facing the same challenges has also helped, Atkinson said.

“We come from the same backgrounds, different branches,” Atkinson said. “Same issues. You know, PTSD or traumatic brain injuries. And they’re all very welcoming, as well. There’s no judgment.”

O’Brien compared living with Albus to a relationship with a sometimes pushy best friend who often wants to go out.

“The best friend constantly wants to make you do things that make you nervous,” O’Brien laughed, acknowledging that it is ultimately up to her.

“I have to decide to walk out and just deal with life," O'Brien said. "And so that has been hard. And it still is hard from time to time, but it’s it’s getting manageable.”

Some veterans said their family relationships have improved since they started the program.

“I’m able to talk, not fly off the handle and just get along with people and not be as stressed, not have as much anxiety,” Atkinson said. “Or even if I do, she (Lexi) is right there with me.”

Timothy Siebenmorgen, 61, said his relationships also are better with help from his 1-year-old American bulldog, Rosie, and Dogs 4 Valor, which he joined in July. He served in both the Marines and the Army, deploying 18 times.

“You’re in the military, kind of taught not to show weakness," Siebenmorgen said. "So you figure you can tackle everything yourself and you honestly believe that. And then you realize you can’t do it on your own.”

'The only reason I'm alive': BC Guide Dogs offer loving therapy to VI veterans

Saanich resident Stephane Marcotte speaks to how his relationship with his dogs saved his life

Sam Duerksen
a day ago

Stephane Marcotte gets out to the park four times a day with Bunker, his PTSD service dog.Samantha Duerksen/Black Press Media


BC & Alberta Guide Dogs is helping veterans one dog at a time, and they need ongoing support to continue the "life-changing" mission.

To date, they've placed 147 PTSD service dogs with veterans and first responders – that's about 24 a year – but demand is much, much higher. Hundreds of veterans alone come to the organization each year, said director of service dogs Mike Annan.

"We'll never keep up," he said.


Saanich's Stephane Marcotte, 56, is one of the veterans who has been lucky to get a dog through the program and he spoke to how it's changed his life. Marcotte spent 28 years in the military, mostly as a marine engineer, which included 18 years on a submarine and a ship in the Persian Gulf. While he did not want to go into the 1995 events behind his PTSD, he said he struggled for almost 20 years before being officially diagnosed.

"When I got out [of the military] in 2014, I was in my basement for the whole year," he said. "I was just watching TV and good thing I was not drinking because I probably would.

"I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even go get milk."

He compares that life to the one he has now, thanks to 10 years with service dogs – first a now-retired Lab named Sarge, and Bunker, his current dog. Now Marcotte goes grocery shopping, to events and parties, and even volunteers with Wounded Warrior Canada. "[The dogs are] the only reason why I'm alive today," he said.
Veteran Stephane Marcotte said his service dogs, Sarge (left, retired) and Bunker, saved his life. Samantha Duerksen/Black Press Media

Through BC Guide Dogs, veterans with debilitating PTSD are given the already-trained service animals and then go through a program to learn skills such as their public access rights and how to adapt the skills that the dog is taught to mitigate their own PTSD. Because everyone's is a little different, Annan said.

"The dogs adapt very, very intimately to their sympathetic nervous system through the training course," Annan said. That means learning to be hyper-sensitive to smell (which can indicate things like blood sugar) and looking for signs of dissociative states, agitation and anxiety.

Marcotte provided several examples of how the dogs have helped him through hurdles he faces with PTSD. Sarge, for instance, would wake him up during nightmares. He will also alert Marcotte if his blood sugar is too low. "He's actually saved me from not waking up again," he said. "Sometimes I don't realize that something happened to me, and they do before I do."

And if Marcotte doesn't respond when stressed, Bunker will put his nose in his lap. Bunker also watches out for him in public in case he goes into a dissociative state.

"He's always attentive," Marcotte said.

"For the OSI PTSD program, we specifically select dogs that we find are adaptive and sensitive to somebody's emotional state or sympathetic nervous system, but they can do it without stress. So it doesn't stress them out, but they do notice," Annan said.

He described the bond between man and dog through the program as a "life-changing relationship."

Marcotte recalls how effective being around dogs was from the first time he visited a BC Guide Dogs booth at a Wounded Warriors Canada retreat.

"One dog was there, and when I laid down, the dog just licked my face. For me, that was kind of three years of therapy in that one moment; I felt so good."

Unfortunately, demand is always high and service dogs are not covered for veterans through government programs. In order to keep the dogs at no cost to the veterans, BC & Alberta Guide Dogs relies on donations from the public and their two main donors the Royal Legion Command and Wounded Warriors Canada.

They also are always looking for more volunteers, including puppy raisers, puppy trainers, and boarders.

"You know, I don't think that any school in the world will ever keep up with the need. The need for service dogs is definitely great and growing each year," Annan said. "But we work very hard at trying to keep up with demand."

Veterans said the dogs, and the program, have given them new hope and a renewed ability to move forward.

“I got my life back,” O’Brien said.

Visit bcandalbertaguidedogs.com for more information/ DONATE

 

First emperor penguin known to reach Australia found on tourist beach

Emperor penguin visit a first

The Associated Press - Nov 11, 2024 / 10:25 am | Story: 516819

Photo: The Canadian Press

In this undated photo provided by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, a male emperor penguin dubbed Gus, stands on a scale after being discovered on a beach near Denmark, Australia, on Nov. 1, 2024, thousands of kilometers from its normal habitat on Antarctica.  

An emperor penguin found malnourished far from its Antarctic home on the Australian south coast is being cared for by a wildlife expert, a government department said Monday.

The adult male was found on Nov. 1 on a popular tourist beach in the town of Denmark in temperate southwest Australia — about 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) north of the icy waters off the Antarctic coast, according to a statement from the Western Australia state’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

The largest penguin species has never been reported in Australia before, University of Western Australia research fellow Belinda Cannell said, though some had reached New Zealand, nearly all of which is further south than Western Australia.

Cannell said she had no idea why the penguin traveled to Denmark.

Cannell is advising seabird rehabilitator Carol Biddulph who is caring for the penguin, spraying him with a chilled water mist to help him cope with his alien climate. The penguin is 1 meter (39 inches ) tall and initially weighed 23 kilograms (51 pounds).

A healthy male can weigh more than 45 kilograms (100 pounds).

The department said its efforts were focused on rehabilitating the penguin. Asked if the penguin could potentially be returned to Antarctica, the department replied that “options are still being worked through.”

FORWARD TO THE PAST

Trump taps fierce UN critic to serve as envoy to it

by Mike Lillis and Mychael Schnell 

- 11/11/24

President-elect Trump’s nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations sets the stage for one of the organization’s most vocal and combative critics to have a powerful seat at its table.

Stefanik, 40, the fourth-ranking House Republican and a devoted Trump loyalist, has little foreign policy experience. But she has built a reputation over the last year as a leading champion of Israel, in part by repeatedly hammering the U.N. for its reproach of the country’s military response to last year’s attacks by Hamas. In September, she accused the organization of being infected by “antisemitic rot.”

Her nomination as America’s top envoy to the U.N. sends an early signal that Trump intends to side squarely with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a conservative Trump ally who has ignored President Biden’s calls for a regional cease-fire, as the Middle Eastern conflict expands and intensifies.

The posting also sends a broader message to the world that Trump’s “America First” approach — which envisions a shrinking role for the United States in world diplomacy and global affairs — is likely to reign supreme in his second term.

That strategy is likely to surface most prominently in Ukraine, where Trump has declined to commit more military support as Kyiv continues the years-long battle against Russia’s invading forces. Stefanik called for “devastating action” to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin early in the war, but voted against a multibillion-dollar aid package to Ukraine earlier this year.

In accepting the nomination Monday, Stefanik defended Trump’s shift toward isolationism, suggesting it would nudge America’s allies into taking a more active role in the pursuit of global peace.

“America continues to be the beacon of the world,” she said in a statement, “but we expect and must demand that our friends and allies be strong partners in the peace we seek.”

Trump’s Republican allies on Capitol Hill quickly hailed the nomination on Monday, praising Stefanik as a “fantastic choice” for the position.

“She is extremely qualified for this new role in public service, and the House’s loss will be a huge gain for the Trump Administration and the country. There is nobody better to represent President Trump’s foreign policy and America’s values at the United Nations than Elise Stefanik,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said in a statement.

But her promotion to global envoy is sure to ring alarm bells among both traditional conservatives, who still support a muscular defense of NATO and America’s overseas allies, and Democrats, who consider Stefanik to be an unscrupulous political opportunist and a blind sycophant to Trump.

“Trump’s pick of Rep. Stefanik is a gift to Vladamir Putin,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “She abandoned Ukrainians in April, and this further signals Donald Trump and MAGA’s retreat from the global stage.”


Stefanik’s imminent jump to the administration immediately sparked the race to replace her in GOP leadership, with a handful of GOP lawmakers already announcing their bids. It could also complicate Trump’s ambitious 100-day legislative agenda by cutting into what is already expected to be a slim majority for the House Republicans.

Although Stefanik serves on the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees, she has made greater waves from her perch as a senior member of the Education and Workforce Committee, where she was in line for the gavel before jumping into House leadership.

But the New York Republican saw her star rise rapidly in December when, during a hearing of the Education committee, she questioned a trio of university presidents about antisemitism on their campuses following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel — an episode that went viral and prompted two of the three leaders to resign from their posts.


Since then, the House GOP conference chair has made combating antisemitism a prime part of her portfolio on Capitol Hill, a posture that has included incisive criticism of the United Nations.

In October, for example, the New York Republican appeared to threaten U.S. funding for the U.N. over the Biden administration’s alleged “silence” regarding perceived antisemitism in the organization. The statement was in reaction to the Palestinian Authority eyeing an effort to expel Israel from the United Nations.

“Should the Palestinian Authority succeed in their antisemitic pursuit, it would result in a complete reassessment of U.S. funding of the United Nations. American taxpayers have no interest in continuing to fund an organization that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have allowed to rot with antisemitism,” Stefanik wrote.


She also took a jab at the United Nations in her May address before the Israeli Knesset, when she became the highest-ranking House member to visit Israel after the Oct. 7 attack.

“When the enemy is inside the gates of the United Nations, America must be the one to call it by its name and destroy it,” Stefanik said. “President Trump understood that, and B’ezrat hashem, we will return to that strategy soon.”

Stefanik is already making clear that Israel will remain a top priority of hers if she is confirmed as ambassador: The congresswoman is scheduled to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday, according to The Times of Israel.

The nomination highlights Trump’s penchant for rewarding his most loyal allies with plum assignments. It also marks the culmination of Stefanik’s head-snapping turn from moderate lawmaker with a reputation for reaching across the aisle to fierce partisan who emerged as one of Trump’s most ardent defenders on Capitol Hill. That support first gained prominence during Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, and it only grew louder in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

That loyalty to the former president was quickly rewarded in the months following the rampage when House Republicans — infuriated that Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), a member of their own leadership ranks, had voted to impeach Trump for his role in the attack — voted to oust Cheney and promote Stefanik as the conference chair.

As House investigators began examining the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Stefanik blamed then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for the rampage. It was a familiar argument — one initiated by Trump.

UN officials plan to charm Stefanik

Officials at the international body believe they’re better off working with Trump’s envoy than fighting with her.


Elise Stefanik is a onetime moderate Republican who has transformed herself into a pro-Donald Trump loyalist. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

By Nahal Toosi and Robbie Gramer
11/11/2024

POLITICO US

U.N. officials worry that when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, he’ll slash the organization’s funding and trash it over alleged anti-Israel bias.

But when Elise Stefanik — Trump’s pick to be the new ambassador to the institution — arrives, she’ll be greeted with a smile.

That’s because U.N. officials are generally of the mind that embracing the new envoy is the best way to mitigate what is likely to be a damaging four years under Trump, according to eight U.N. diplomats and others who are in touch with officials there.

U.N. officials were more prepared for the possibility of a Trump victory this year than in 2016. They know from experience that there’s no point in picking a fight with the new envoy, who is on a glide-path to confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate after Trump takes office. Instead, U.N. officials are likely to put on a charm offensive, from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the lowliest staff assistant.

“It’s in any secretary general’s interest to have the most constructive possible relationship with a U.S. permanent representative,” a senior U.N. diplomat said, noting that Guterres saw himself as getting along well with Trump during the president-elect’s first term. “She seems to have a close relationship with Trump, and that’s what matters.”

Like others interviewed, the diplomat was granted anonymity to speak candidly.

An African diplomat in touch with U.N. officials said the sentiment was widespread in New York’s Turtle Bay neighborhood, where memories are still fresh about Trump’s first term.

“Now they all know they need to work with [the Trump administration], and it’s better to work with them than fight them,” the African diplomat said.

Stefanik, a GOP House member from New York, has publicly berated the U.N. for perceived anti-Israel bias, including by criticizing some of the resolutions passed by the organization. She has said the U.S. should consider funding cuts to punish the U.N. for such actions.

Such statements don’t surprise U.N. officials. Still, many at the U.N. believe Stefanik’s close relationship to Trump means she will speak for him with no caveats — a clarity that can prove useful in diplomacy.

Aides to Stefanik did not respond to requests for comment.

U.N. diplomats had eagerly anticipated Trump’s choice for the role since he won election this month. Stefanik wasn’t on many of their radars until last week. But her history only added to expectations that the incoming administration will prioritize cutting U.N. funding and promoting a pro-Israel vision.

Stefanik is a onetime moderate Republican who has transformed herself into a pro-Trump loyalist. She stood up for Trump relentlessly when he faced impeachment.

Many at the U.N. believe Stefanik’s close relationship to Trump means she will speak for him with no caveats — a clarity that can prove useful in diplomacy. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

She’s also been one of the most pro-Israel voices in Congress. She drew the spotlight by slamming university leaders for their responses to antisemitism on college campuses amid protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

She has voiced support for cutting U.N. funding because of perceived anti-Israel bias at the world body. But Republicans have also long had other reasons for wanting to reduce U.S. support for the U.N., including questions about its effectiveness and allegations of previous corruption.

Several U.N.-based diplomats warned that if Trump reduces U.S. funding, he may not like the trade-offs.

“Whatever the MAGA team may think of the U.N., it’s also true that China will fill whatever vacuum they leave behind,” warned one of them. If confirmed for the job, Stefanik will need to balance Trump’s desire to act tough on China with his distaste for the world body.

Turtle Bay is, however, bracing for an era of austerity. U.N. officials have said for months that, independent of potential U.S. funding cuts, they’ve been looking at liquidity issues and seeking ways to save money.

Several U.N. diplomats said they expected the U.S. to zero-out funding for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, which oversees aid to Gaza entirely. “We have to plan as if U.S. funding for UNRWA will never come back,” said a U.N.-based diplomat.

Some diplomats contend U.S. cuts to the U.N. — an issue on which Congress would get a say — can be managed if they aren’t too steep.

“We’re in a more resilient position for core funding … than we were three, four years ago,” the senior U.N. diplomat said.

But plenty of people at the U.N. are nervous about the money flow, and they speak of it in terms of exhaustion. They question whether the U.S. is still reliable.

“It’s not related to her,” one U.N. diplomat said of Stefanik. “It’s the basic question, what is going to be the stand of the U.S.?”

Trump is putting Stefanik in his Cabinet, but her influence may be hemmed in by the future secretary of State and national security adviser, both key diplomatic players in any administration.

When Nikki Haley served as Trump’s U.N. ambassador during his first term, she did not get along with his first secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and created her own power center. The former South Carolina governor claimed in a memoir that Tillerson tried to persuade her to work with him to undermine Trump. Tillerson has denied this.

But there also were rumblings that Haley was drawing too much attention in an administration where the president liked the limelight. One senior White House official said Haley “flew too close to the sun.” Haley subsequently ran against Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, and he declared on Saturday that he would not invite her to serve in his second administration.

Based on her history with Trump so far, Stefanik is unlikely to try to outshine or outmaneuver the president-elect.

While Stefanik has little diplomatic background, her time in the GOP House leadership has given her experience that can come in handy at the United Nations, where persuading other countries to vote for your priorities is critical.

“A lot of what you learn in leadership in the House of Representatives carries over to how you put together a coalition in New York — it’s the same skill set,” said Peter Yeo, senior vice president of the U.N. Foundation.

Nick Reisman contributed to this report from Albany, New York.

Top Trump White House pick has strong view on Canada's government. It's not flattering

Trump's reported choice for national security adviser can't wait to see the Liberals lose next election

Alexander Panetta · CBC News · Posted: Nov 11, 202

Mike Waltz, seen speaking during the Republican convention in July, is reportedly Donald Trump's pick for national security advisor. (Scott Applewhite/The Associated Press)

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The man reportedly tapped for the top international role inside the Trump White House isn't just predicting the defeat of Canada's Trudeau government: He's celebrating it.

Mike Waltz has a vast digital footprint on international issues in his six years as a congressman, following careers in business, defence policy, and as a decorated special-forces veteran.

He's been selected by Donald Trump for the powerful position of national security adviser in the next White House, a multitude of U.S. media outlets reported Monday evening, though Trump did not publicly comment on any of these reports.

His online commentary emphasizes his view that U.S. allies must pull their weight on security issues, including with regards to China, which he views as a serious national-security threat.

Waltz predicts Liberals will lose next election

His unflattering opinion of the Trudeau government is manifest in a string of social media comments over the years, including one happily predicting its demise in the next election.

Earlier this year, he posted a video from Canada's question period where opposition leader Pierre Poilievre ridiculed Trudeau's housing policies.

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"This guy is going to send Trudeau packing in 2025 (finally) and start digging Canada out of the progressive mess it's in," Waltz posted on the X social media platform.

"His trolling of Trudeau's nonsense worth a watch!"

Waltz's criticisms of Trudeau were frequently related to China.

He called Trudeau shameful for abstaining from a vote on Chinese genocide of Muslim Uyghurs. He referred in different social media posts to China interfering in Canada's elections. 

"This is a MASSIVE scandal," he said in one post. 

He lamented Trudeau's government allowing the sale of a lithium mine to a Chinese-state owned entity. This was two years ago, and Canada has since moved to boot those Chinese state owners from certain critical-minerals sites.

Waltz also complained about Chinese donors pledging $1 million to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and reportedly wanting to erect a statue of the first Chinese communist leader outside a Montreal university.

The Florida congressman has other connections to Canada.

His other Canadian connection: pipeline business

His wife, Julia Nesheiwat, is a vice president for Calgary-based TC Energy Corp.; it's the energy company formerly known as TransCanada, builder of the ill-fated Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Waltz's social media posts are now a window into a substantive reality awaiting Canada on Jan. 20, when the new administration takes office.

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The Trump team is expected to press, aggressively, for allies including Canada to take defence spending and security more seriously.

This will unfold amid threats from Trump to punish all countries, including allies, with trade measures including a minimum 10 per cent tariff on imports.

Canada's argument against those tariffs is expected to include the point that it is a contributor to U.S. security — as a supplier of oil, and potentially minerals, that lessen American dependence on overseas countries, including China.

It's an argument Waltz would presumably know well — given his personal connection to TC Energy. 

Waltz also delivered a shoutout to former prime minister Stephen Harper at an international gathering of conservatives in 2022.

His comments about the next Canadian election point to another dynamic looming over the coming months: The question of whether Canada-U.S. talks on sensitive issues, like tariffs and defence spending, will happen mostly before or after Canada's election. 

Waltz: NATO allies need to 'step up' defence spending

Waltz holds standard Republican views on some international issues.

He was passionately supportive of helping Ukraine, certainly in the aftermath of Russia's invasion, but, as his party grew more skeptical, he echoed that sentiment.

He's mocked NATO allies for doing the bare minimum in meeting defence spending commitments.

Waltz joked in one post about European countries meeting the two per cent spending target, saying it was like "congratulating the F student on getting a D. We need our allies to step up, instead of letting them off and making American taxpayers foot the bill!"

His track record of commenting on Canada dwarfs that of the rumoured next secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio.

In the past, Rubio has frequently mentioned working with Canada in a failed attempt to isolate Venezuela's Maduro government.

That said, he did express his disgust with how warmly Trudeau eulogized Fidel Castro after the Cuban dictator's death in 2016.

• 'Grueling and arduous': A look back at Canada-U.S. relations during the first Trump presidency

"Is this a real statement or a parody?" Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants, tweeted at the time. "Because if this is a real statement from the PM of Canada it is shameful & embarrassing."

Another nominee for a senior role is even better versed on Canadian issues.

Lawmaker Elise Stefanik, tapped to be Trump's UN ambassador, serves in a border district in New York, is knowledgeable on cross-border files, and used to co-lead a congressional group focused on Canadian affairs before rising to national prominence as an aggressive Trump defender.

Countries promised to ditch fossil fuels. Instead they’re booming.

The U.N. Climate Change Conference, or COP29, starts as the world’s nations have failed to deliver on the central pledge of last year’s negotiations.

By Chico Harlan
November 10, 2024 

When nations at last year’s global climate conference historically agreed to transition away from coal, oil and gas, Australia’s climate minister predicted that the “age of fossil fuels will end.” Norway’s foreign minister lauded countries for at last tackling the climate crisis “head-on.” President Joe Biden said the deal put the world “one significant step closer” to its climate goals.

But one year later, these same wealthy countries are undercutting it, by scaling up exports and launching new fossil fuel projects that could last for decades. At the same time, major oil companies have weakened their climate pledges.

As world leaders gather Monday in Azerbaijan to open COP29, the moves are fueling a sense among scientists and policy professionals that the world has squandered a crucial year and raising questions about how effectively the annual U.N. climate conference can address this core part of planetary warming.

One think tank analysis chronicles how countries are on course for an “oil and gas exploration spree” in the wake of the pledge. Using industry data, it listed the United States, Norway and Australia, as well as China, among the 10 largest issuers of drilling permits in the past 12 months — and said huge blocks will come up for bidding over the next months. The United States is producing more oil than any country, ever — a trajectory that is set to accelerate with the election of Donald Trump, who referred to oil and gas as “liquid gold” in a victory speech.

“This is not some mid-century goal. We have no time. And that is the piece that countries did not take seriously when they went home” from last year’s conference in Dubai, said Rachel Cleetus, the policy director with the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The world has only about five years left at current emissions levels before it exceeds the carbon budget projected to keep temperature increases below 1.5 Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), a key goal of the Paris agreement, a treaty brokered in 2015 to reduce emissions signed by 194 countries and the European Union. Based on carbon budget figures in a recent U.N. emissions report, humanity could generate greenhouse gases at current levels for roughly another 22 years before breaking the budget for keeping temperatures below 2 Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Heading into COP29, the two-week conference in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, global electricity demand is soaring faster than renewables come online, prolonging the opportunity for fossil fuels. Earlier this year, the CEO of Saudi Aramco said the world should “abandon the fantasy” of an oil and gas phaseout. If Trump again pulls the United States from the Paris agreement, and the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change altogether, it will set an example that countries that heavily contributed to driving up the Earth’s temperature can’t be depended upon to help solve it.

The agreement in Dubai marked the first time nations had ever specifically mentioned the use of fossil fuels, which account for about 90 percent of the planet-warming emissions pumped into the atmosphere. The deal called for “accelerating action in this critical decade,” a nod to science showing the world must curb emissions — right away — to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial levels.

But under current policies, the world is on track to blow past this threshold — all as deadly and costly disasters, amplified by emissions, strike in one continent after the next.

Industry players say that they are playing a responsible role and have committed to significantly limiting emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. They also note that they are providing a measure of geopolitical stability in meeting the high energy demand.

In Baku, the issue of fossil fuels will have a secondary place on the agenda. That is partly because of the cyclical nature of the talks and because only a few issues — this year, finance for vulnerable countries — can be prioritized in the consensus-based system. Host Azerbaijan, whose economy relies on oil and gas income, didn’t mention the fossil fuel transition in its opening letter for delegations.

But it also reflects a reality: Many of the obstacles to the energy transition cannot be resolved in international talks.

Politicians in most countries are reluctant to take on the influential fossil fuel lobby. Oil and gas remain highly profitable businesses — and even if the market dwindles, companies make competing claims to stay on as the last providers. Regulations and incentives can boost renewables, but for now, most major fossil fuel companies are investing just a sliver of their revenue into cleaner fuels and technologies.

“We’re dealing with companies that want to go on with oil and gas as long as possible,” said Mark van Baal, a Dutch activist investor who has pushed for greener policies in fossil fuel companies. “This is their comfort zone. This is how they got to the top of the pyramid.”

Van Baal cited Shell, the world’s fourth-largest oil and gas company, as one example. In 2021, the company had announced a series of groundbreaking emissions-reduction targets. But this year, the company, under a new CEO, watered down an emissions-reduction target for 2030 and eliminated the target for 2035 — which had originally called for a 45 percent reduction in the carbon intensity of its productions.

The company says it plans to expand its production of liquefied natural gas, the least emissions-intensive fossil fuel, and keep oil production flat for the rest of the decade.

A Shell spokeswoman said that Shell is making “good progress on our climate targets” and supports the goals of the Paris agreement. Shell CEO Wael Sawan said that “while the world still relies on oil, we will supply it — but with lower emissions.”

Van Baal said that the policies of companies such as Shell amount to a bet “on the failure of Paris.”

Clean power did make some gains last year. In September, Britain — the birthplace of coal-fired power — shuttered its last coal plant. The country’s new prime minister, Keir Starmer, ruled out issuing new licenses for oil and gas drilling off the Scottish coast. And globally, according to the energy think tank Ember, strong uptake of solar and wind power drove the share of renewables in the global electricity mix above the 30 percent mark. Globally, investment in clean energy is twice the amount going to fossil fuels.

But the International Energy Agency says the boom in renewables won’t by itself squeeze space for oil, gas and coal quickly enough. In a 2023 report on how the world might reach carbon neutrality by 2050, the agency said that fossil fuels would have to flip from providing four-fifths of the global energy supply to less than one-fifth. The decline would be significant enough that, as of 2023, the world would no longer need new large-scale oil and gas projects.

But these projects are taking off nonetheless.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development, which tracks oil and gas data, says that countries this year have issued permits that could emit more than 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide, if fully tapped. That figure — equal to about 3.5 percent of the world’s annual output — is part of a downward trend over the past decade.

But the institute says that there is a “massive surge” forthcoming, with countries planning over the next six months to issue licenses that could account — if fully tapped — for 15 billion tons of emissions. That’s roughly one-quarter of the global emissions output in a year.

“It’s a bid of a Damocles sword hanging over our head,” said Olivier Bois von Kursk, an IISD policy adviser. He noted that Australia and the United States will be among the biggest issuers in the next bidding rounds. They are countries that have the wealth to transition away more quickly; leaders from poorer, more vulnerable nations have called on them to take on the leading role.

“These are net exporters that are claiming to be climate leaders while expanding their emissions,” he said. “I think it is absolutely indefensible at this point.”

António Guterres, the U.N. secretary general, said earlier this year that the largest emitters must lead in the phaseout and stop their expansion “immediately.”

“When governments sign new oil and gas licenses, they are signing away our future,” he said.

COP29 held in the shadow of a re-elected Trump and a problematic host

• 3 hours ago
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Delegates at COP29, the annual UN climate conference, will have to navigate the scrutiny of another petro-state host in Azerbaijan and the expected retreat of U.S. climate policy under a re-elected Donald Trump. CBC’s international climate correspondent Susan Ormiston breaks down the hurdles standing between COP and meaningful climate action.