The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada Podcast

Alors que les relations entre le Québec et la Corée du Sud connaissent une évolution rapide, cet épisode analyse l’émergence d’un partenariat stratégique clé en Indo-Pacifique. Avec la participation de Damien Pereira, délégué du Québec à Séoul, la discussion met en lumière l’amélioration marquée de la perception de la Corée au Québec au cours des 15 dernières années, portée par les échanges cultur...

In this episode of Kakehashi Conversations, Siân Jones , Senior Program Manager for the Kakehashi Project and Mari Naganuma , APF Canada Project Specialist for Inclusive International Trade sit down with Dr. Alexander “AJ” Wray , Assistant Professor of Community Health Education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Health Geographer, and proud alum of the Kakehashi Program.  Dr. Wray shares...

Dans cet épisode de Conversations québécoises, Alexandre Veilleux reçoit Catherine Tadros , déléguée du Québec à Singapour, qui cumule plus de 20 ans d’expérience au sein de la fonction publique québécoise. Dans ce balado, Mme Tadros aborde l’importance croissante des relations entre le Québec et l’Asie du Sud-Est, une région à la fois diversifiée et stratégiquement essentielle. Elle explique comm...

In this episode of Kakehashi Conversations, the second of a two-part series spotlighting alumni working in the humanitarian sector, Kakehashi Senior Program Manager  Siân Jones  and Research Scholar for South Asia  Tanya Dawar  speak with  Stephanie Xu , a Communications Advisor for the International Committee of the Red Cross working in Rangoon, Myanmar, and proud Kakehashi alum of the 2018-19 un...

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, Dr. Victor Cha, President of the Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., discusses South Korea’s evolving economic and political landscape with APF Canada Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla .   Cha explores the ‘roller-coaster’ of U.S.-South Ko...

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, Pita Limjaroenrat, former leader of Thailand’s Move Forward Party (MFP) and current Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, discusses the evolution of Thailand’s democratic renewal with APF Canada Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla.   Under Pita’s leadership in May 2023, the MFP received the most votes and seats in Parlia...

In this episode of Kakehashi Conversations, the first of a two-part series spotlighting alumni working in the humanitarian sector, Kakehashi Senior Program Manager Siân Jones and Research Scholar for South Asia Tanya Dawar speak with their first Japanese Kakehashi alumni guest, Jo Maruyama, a UNESCO intern working in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and proud Kakehashi alum of the 2023 university cohort.  Jo d...

In this episode of Kakehashi Conversations, Program Manager Siân Jones and Research Scholar for South Asia Tanya Dawar speak with Allison Cohen (Chief of Staff, Liquid AI) and Kimberley Nault (PhD Candidate, University of Ottawa) about their experiences in the Kakehashi Project and their work in AI.  Allison reflects on her 2018 trip to Japan, where a rural homestay offered powerful lessons in cul...

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, we welcome Richard Heydarian, an APF Canada Indo-Pacific Visiting Schola r visiting Canada as part of our Indo-Pacific Initiative Programs, funded by the Government of Canada.  Richard Heydarian is a global columnist, policy advisor, public intellectual, and Senior Lecturer at the University of the Philippines’ Asian Center. He has published in The Ne...

In this episode of Kakehashi Conversations, Kakehashi Project Senior Program Manager Siân Jones and Research Scholar for International Trade & Investment Kana Bak , sit down with Gabriel Vermette, Senior Associate for Country and Sector Intelligence at Export Development Canada (EDC).   With a prolific background in international relations, including serving as a Policy and Parliamentary Advisor t...

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, recorded in Vancouver, Canada, on August 26, 2025, APF Canada’s Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla reflects on the evolution of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS).  She sits down with APF Canada’s Communications Director, Michael Roberts, to discuss the key themes when it comes to Canada’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific region, how C...

 In this episode of Kakehashi Conversations, Kakehashi Project Senior Program Manager Siân Jones and Research Scholar for International Trade & Investment Kana Bak , sit down with author Clara Kumagai.   Clara’s debut novel, Catfishing Rolling , received critical acclaim, cementing her voice in the Young Adult genre. The themes of mythology and fluidity of time continue in her second novel release...

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, Tamara Mawhinney, Ambassador of Canada to the Republic of South Korea, discusses the evolution of Canada’s longstanding bilateral relationship with South Korea with APF Canada Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla. As her tenure as Canada’s top diplomat in South Korea draws to a close in the summer of 2025, Mawhinney discusses the history...

In this episode of Kakehashi Conversations, Kakehashi Project Senior Program Manager Siân Jones and Research Scholar for International Trade & Investment Kana Bak , sit down with Adam Melnyk , Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer at LFAnt Medical.   A McGill Engineering graduate, Adam developed LFAnt with classmates to bring Canadian diagnostic technology to the global market and develop the most...

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, APF Canada’s Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla sits down once again with Vice Admiral Angus Topshee , Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy. Admiral Topshee first joined us in February 2025 for a discussion on Canada’s military future. Now, with a new federal government in play, a commitment by Canada to hit the NATO five per cent of G...

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, Canadian agriculture entrepreneur and CEO of Saskatchewan-based AGT Foods and Ingredients, Murad Al-Katib , joins Vina Nadjibulla, APF Canada Vice-President Research & Strategy, for a discussion on Canada’s agri-food industry and the challenges and importance of diversifying away from the U.S. into the Indo-Pacific market in the current moment.   A st...

In this episode of Kakehashi Conversations, Kakehashi Project Senior Program Manager Siân Jones and Research Scholar for International Trade & Investment Kana Bak sit down with Colette Trudeau , CEO of Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC).  While her public image took off in the early 2000s as a member of LiveonRelease with the band’s hit song “I’m Afraid of Britney Spears,” Colette’s current care...

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, APF Canada’s Senior Program Manager Erin Williams chats with Pia Ranada , Journalist and Community Lead at Rappler, a Filipino news organization, and winner of the 2024 Marshall McLuhan Fellowship for Excellence in Journalism.   Ranada has covered critical issues in climate change, security, international affairs, and natural disasters, but she is bes...

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, APF Canada Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla chats with Gabrielius Landsbergis, former Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs.   Nadjibulla and Landsbergis, who also served as a Member of the European Parliament, discuss transatlantic security in the context of the new Trump Administration and the influence of coercive state actors, l...

In this special Asian Heritage Month episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, Vina Nadjibulla , APF Canada’s Vice-President Research & Strategy, sits down with Colonel Chung Wong , who currently serves as the Director of Aerospace Equipment Program Management (Tactical Aviation and Simulation) in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF).  With a background in aerospace engineering, Col. Wong has held several...

In this episode of Kakehashi Conversations, Kakehashi Project Program Manager Siân Jones and Research Scholar for International Trade & Investment Kana Bak sit down with Stéphanie Valenzuela, City Councillor for the District of Darlington in Montréa l, president of the Ensemble Montréal caucus, and proud Kakehashi Project alumni.   As one of Montréal’s youngest ever counsellors, and its first of P...

In this special Asian Heritage Month episode of Kakehashi Conversations, we sit down with Grace Chong, a Hong Kong-based researcher on Open Education and Generative AI, and Angela Minyi Hou , a legal and economic affairs officer in the Accessions Division of the World Trade Organization in Geneva. As Kakehashi alumnae and 2024-25 APF Canada-Asia Young Professional Fellows, Grace and Angela discuss...

Dans cet épisode de « Conversations québécoises », Alexandre Veilleux reçoit M. Michel Constantin, Directeur du Bureau du Québec à Shanghai. M. Constantin travaille pour les relations internationales du Québec depuis 1998, ayant occupé des fonctions à la Direction de la Francophonie et de la solidarité internationale, ainsi qu’aux affaires gouvernementales et éducatives à la Délégation générale du...

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, Justin Bassi , Executive Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, an independent, non-partisan think-tank based in Canberra, joins the Foundation’s Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla for a wide-ranging conversation. Their discussion, recorded on May 7, touches on the outcome and impact of U.S. President Donald Trump on Au...

In this episode of CIAC Conversations, Indian tech entrepreneur Raj Somasundaram , Founder and CEO of Aquaconnect, joins APF Canada’s  Communications Director Mike Roberts at this year’s annual Canada-in-Asia Conference in Singapore in February for a discussion on the intersection of technology and aquaculture in India and beyond. The conversation touches on the applications of artificial intellig...