About The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada Podcast
Welcome to the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada's podcast hub. Listen to a wide variety of voices on topics in the Asia Pacific region that matter to Canada, and be sure to subscribe to be notified of our latest episodes!
Minerals Matter: Financing the Future of Rare-Earth Supply Chains
In this episode of Minerals Matter, Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes, former U.S. Deputy Director for Batteries and Critical Materials, sits down with Pascale Massot, Co-Founder of APF Canada's Canada-Indo-Pacific Critical Minerals Hub and an Associate Professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, to discuss the United States’ critical minerals strategy and its mining project investment landscape.
Ashley, a petroleum engineer with 14 years of experience in natural resources projects, details the financing side of critical minerals innovation, exploring why critical minerals projects outside China so often fail to pencil out and what it would take to build supply chains that private capital will finance without a government standing behind every deal.
Now a Principal at Smoketree Resources, a critical minerals-focused family office based in Austin, Texas, and a Non-Resident Fellow at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, Ashley also draws on her expertise to explain how a lack of vertical integration in the West and unique demand-side industry incentives are impacting critical minerals supply. Finally, she underscores the need for a multi-nation co-ordinated approach to rare-earth supply chains, such as through proposed allied reference pricing for non-adversarial material.
19 Aug 2026
Minerals Matters: Mineral Exploration: The Backbone of Canada’s Mining Industry
In this episode of Minerals Matter, Todd Stone, President and CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration, based in British Columbia, discusses the key mining aspects of Canada’s critical minerals sector with APF Canada's former Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla.
Their conversation covers the very beginnings of Canada's critical minerals supply chain with the geoscience of mineral deposit exploration. Todd emphasizes the role of risk capital in kick-starting new mining projects, expanding government incentives to drive new projects, such as financing, updating provincial permitting timelines, and civilian/military "dual-use" designations for new mines that align with Canada’s defence sector needs.
Todd also discusses why allied overseas governments are increasingly investing directly in Canadian projects, how Canada can reduce dependence on a single dominant supplier, and why building the workforce at home matters as much as finding the deposits.
29 Jul 2026
Minerals Matter: Indigenous Voices in Critical Minerals
In this episode of Minerals Matter, Pascale Massot, APF Canada's Canada–Indo-Pacific Critical Minerals Hub advisor and our 2025–26 John H. McArthur Research Fellow, sits down with Saga Williams, an advisor with the First Nations Major Projects Coalition and a member of Curve Lake First Nation, to discuss the intersection of Indigenous rights and Canada's critical minerals development.
Williams explores Canada’s resource governance by framing the industry around a critical dichotomy: the urgency to build a domestic critical-minerals value chain and the necessity of building it thoughtfully and inclusively with Indigenous communities. She explains how this dichotomy can function as an opportunity for communities to engage industry leaders and government to remove long-standing barriers to infrastructure development. She also looks at the governance structures that have moved communities from bystanders to proponents in major projects, "territorial development" as a frame for asking whether development brings lasting value to a region or just to its investors, and what lessons Canada's experience may hold for resource development across the Indo-Pacific.
You can access the First Nations Major Projects Coalition report on Indigenous engagement in Canada’s “Critical Minerals Value Chain” here (https://fnmpc.ca/tools-resources/reports-publications/).
Who has been a guest on The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada Podcast
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Vice Admiral Angus Topshee
Murad Al-Katib
Colette Trudeau
Pia Ranada
Gabrielius Landsbergis
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
82,812
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 68 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
72
Social presence
0
YouTube
85
Engagement
76
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Guest appearances
Books guests
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