Dans l'actualité

Canada Seminar Reveals New Developments In Foreign Interference, Proposes Society-Wide Response Strategies

Vision Times, April 27, 2026

Featuring: Jeff Nankivell, President & CEO, APF Canada

Excerpt:  Transnational interference is a pertinent issue facing the free world, and the experts at the conference said security boundaries are essential.

“Our role is to prepare Canadians,” said Jeff Nankivell, the President and CEO of APF Canada. “We must learn to see the world ‘as it is,’ even as we continue working toward the world ‘as it should be.’”

The moderator of the seminar, Elizabeth Donkervoort, Senior Advisor on China Programs at the Asia Pacific Foundation, stated clearly that while the discussion focused heavily on China—which is widely regarded as one of the most mature and pervasive sources of foreign interference globally—this does not mean ignoring potential interference from other countries. 

Reach Alliance at CanWIN Global Summit 2026: How women entrepreneurs are shaping the economy and driving global change

Reach Alliance, April 24, 2026

Featuring: The Canadian Women’s International Network (CanWIN Global Summit 2026

Excerpt:  The Reach Alliance sent a delegation of staff, researchers, and alumni to the CanWIN (Canadian Women’s International Network) Global Summit 2026 in Toronto March 26-27. The third installment of this annual gathering convened women leaders, entrepreneurs, and gender equality organizations to celebrate the network’s success and advance discussions on female leadership, inclusive trade, and expansion into Asia Pacific markets. 

The gathering came after the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s women-only business mission to the Philippines and Singapore in February 2026. Women business leaders from across Canada and Asia were well represented, spanning a diverse range of industries, including information and communications technology, sustainable energy, health technology, and consumer and retail markets. 

Not-so-sweet deal for Singapore’s refineries as they shift to US, alternative crudes

The Business Times (Singapore), April 23, 2026

Featuring: Barrett Bingley, Asia Regional Director, Asia Regional Office (Singapore), APF Canada

Excerpt:  Canadian heavy crude has emerged as another lifeline and diversification strategy for Singapore’s refineries. 

Bingley says that blending Canadian heavy crude into Middle Eastern grades is a “very real option” for ExxonMobil’s refinery in Singapore. 

“(In the) immediate term, blends of up to 10 to 15 per cent would be possible, most likely Cold Lake, Pacific Cold Lake and Fort Hills Reduced Carbon Lifecycles Dilbit."

He also noted that the Singapore Refining Company on Jurong Island can handle such blends, as well as other Canadian grades such as Borealis Heavy and Hangingstone Dilbit, provided that technical elements – for instance, diluted bitumen residue – are carefully managed. 

Watch the video breakdown here on The Business Times YouTube channel

Varcoe: Alberta eyes more trade in Asia, as South Korea waives oil tariffs, explores investment in province

Calgary Herald, April 22, 2026

Featuring: Sun Ryung Park, Senior Research Specialist, Northeast Asia, APF Canada

Excerpt:  The ability of Canada to send more oil to Asia has been proven by the successful startup of the Trans Mountain pipeline — and it could continue to grow with the removal of trade barriers this week.

Sun noted South Korea relies on imports for more than 97 per cent of its fossil fuel consumption.

Opportunity Knocks For Canadian Oil And Gas In Asia. Can The Country Capitalize?

DOB Energy, April 22, 2026

Featuring: Barrett Bingley, Asia Regional Director, Asia Regional Office (Singapore), APF Canada

Excerpt:  "Asian governments, investors and off-take buyers do recognize that Canada has the raw materials, in an almost unbelievable amount compared to our population and that Alberta — compared to B.C. — specifically is interested to dig/drill and ship it,” Bingley said. 

“To a large degree, Asian investors and governments do not trust Canada — specifically, do not trust the Canadian federal, provincial, municipal and Indigenous actors can act together to approve projects and get them built in a timely way to enable the investors to stay on budget... and the Major Projects Office has not yet taken any visible action to change this perception.”

He added that since Canadian oil and gas exports to Asia are a newer development, Canada needs to work very hard over the next five to 10 years to earn that trust and solidify it's place in energy security value chains in Asia.

'Massive risk': Chinese EVs are the first test for Canada’s new strategic partnership with China

National Post, April 17, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

Excerpt: Increased trade with Chinese companies will pose challenges to Canada’s new diplomatic relationship with China, said Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

“I think there are a number of concerns when it comes to this expansion of Chinese companies and their presence in Canadian market,” she said. “And human rights is one element of it, but economic security and national security concerns must also be considered.”

Deputy FM Wu delivers speech in Montreal

Taiwan Today, April 15, 2026

Featuring:  APF Canada's Taiwan-Quebec Workshop on April 8, 2026.

Excerpt: "Deputy Foreign Minister François Chih-chung Wu delivered a speech at the Center for Sustainable Development April 8 in Montreal, Canada, elaborating on the opportunities and challenges for the Taiwan-Quebec relationship.
 
Organized by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Montreal, Vancouver-based think tank Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, the University of Quebec and the University of Montreal, the event attracted over 100 attendees. The participants demonstrated their interest in Taiwan via questions on issues spanning Taiwan’s international participation, economic and trade exchanges, energy security, technological cooperation, and the Indo-Pacific geopolitical situation."

Middle East instability strengthens case for Canadian LNG exports

Canadian Affairs, April 14, 2026

Featuring: Barrett Bingley, Asia Regional Director, Asia Regional Office (Singapore), APF Canada

Excerpt:  Barrett Bingley, Asia regional director at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, says the Iran war has served as a “wake-up call” for governments across Northeast Asia.

LNG shipments from Canada have the advantage of avoiding major maritime chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz, the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal.

“Canada’s West Coast goes straight to tidewater and then directly to the regasification plants in Taiwan, South Korea and Japan without going through any chokepoints,” Bingley said. 

“That’s a huge advantage, and that should add a geopolitical premium to Canadian energy supplies."

Forum Highlights Indonesia-Canada Ties as Middle Powers

Jakarta Globe, April 11, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

Excerpt: Vina Nadjibulla, a Canadian think tank representative, believes there is a vast window of opportunity to strengthen Indonesia-Canada cooperation, not only due to rapidly changing global dynamics but also due to internal Canadian factors that encourage openness to new, more diverse, and strategic partners.

"Canada is currently reorienting its foreign policy amidst various global disruptions. Therefore, relations with Indonesia have a significant opportunity to improve, especially if both countries can build more institutionalized mechanisms and encourage concrete follow-up," she emphasized.

FPSA and Canadian Think Tanks Advance Dialogue on Middle Power Cooperation in the Global Order

Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Ottawa, Canada and Representative to ICAO, April 9, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

Excerpt: The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Ottawa, in collaboration with the Foreign Policy Strategy Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia (FPSA), convened a Roundtable Policy Dialogue in Ottawa on Thursday, 9 April 2026. 

From the Canadian side, participants included a number of prominent think tank leaders and academics, namely Ms. Vina Nadjibulla of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Mr. Christopher Coates of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Mr. Matthew Millar of the Journal of Geoeconomics, Mr. Gregory Goldhawk of the Canadian International Council, and Professor Elliot Tepper, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University.

Does a military upgrade mean a climate downgrade?

What on Earth with Laura Lynch (CBC Radio), April 2, 2026

Featuring: Hema Nadarajah, Program Manager, Southeast Asia, APF Canada

Excerpt: Hema says Canada’s increased spending on defence, totalling over C$63 billion, is a “much-needed change” to help support infrastructure and security in Canada’s Arctic, but warns Ottawa to consider climate resilience throughout these projects.

“The changing climate is fundamentally altering the Arctic’s role in Canada’s security. It’s made the region much more relevant in a way it simply wasn’t before," with warmer temperatures increasing resource availability and opening shipping corridors, like the Northwest Passage, "which could cut shipping distances from Western Europe to East Asia by about 8,000 kilometres in the far north.”

Despite increased co-operation between China and Russia, she argues that the most urgent threat to Canada’s Arctic is not “a Russian tanker rolling across the tundra,” but "climate change." She adds that a larger defence budget “might put more pressure on our efforts to cut emissions.”

The Top 50 People Influencing Canadian Foreign Policy: The Hill Times

The Hill Times, April 8, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

The Hill Times' annual list was compiled after speaking to nearly 20 insiders, including current and former senior government officials, past diplomats, and analysts. APF Canada's Vina Nadjibulla was featured in this year's list.

Excerpt: The government’s pivot to Asia has put Vina Nadjibulla in the spotlight. She is described as having a “good network” within GAC and among Indo-Pacific embassies in Ottawa. 

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s vice-president for research and strategy is a frequent commentator in the media for all things Indo-Pacific at a time when Canada is re-examining its engagement with China and India. That will only continue with ongoing trade negotiations with India, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the Philippines, among other players in the region.

How Asia Became Ground Zero for the Oil Crisis

The Take from Al Jazeera, April 6, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

Excerpt: "In the front line [of the Iran war] where the people most impacted are the poor, the same is happening in Asia, where obviously all countries are impacted, but the countries that are not as advanced as let's say Japan or China or Taiwan are impacted more. And then within those countries, the people who are already kind of struggling and living paycheque to paycheque are now being impacted the most.

“The reason is because of the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The strait, which is a narrow body of water, 20 per cent of the energy, of the oil and gas of the world, goes through that strait. But the majority goes to Asia. So that's why countries from Pakistan to Japan were impacted the most, that entire region. Because A, most of them are very dependent on imports of oil – they don't have a domestic supply. And B, most of those imports came through the Middle East for them. So they were the first ones to feel it. And for countries like Japan and China, where they have strategic reserves of oil, the impact was not as severe because the governments were able to step in and take immediate measures. For countries like Bangladesh and the Philippines and Pakistan and even India, the impact was more severe because the reserves are less. And then [their governments] began introducing austerity measures.”

'Focused on building on PM Carney's visit': Analyst on delegates wrapping up China trade mission

CTV News, April 4, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

Excerpt: “[Finance Minister Champagne's visit to China] was very much focused on building on Prime Minister Carney's January visit. Minister Champagne was able to launch the financial working group set up between the two countries and unlock opportunities for Chinese state-directed investment into Canada. And the visit also allowed Canadian financial institutions and banks to hopefully expand their services and offerings in the Chinese market.

“This trip was really about getting the political buy-in, because in the Chinese system, you need that. It's a communist state-controlled system where you need the political leadership to agree to channel big capital and investments into Canada. And that's what Canada really wants right now, investments into oil and gas, as well as the agricultural sector.” 

Can Canada maintain its values while deepening trade ties with China?

CBC News - Power and Politics, March 31, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

Excerpt: Nadjibulla says PM Carney’s response to concerns over China’s forced labour practices raised in Parliament recently shows “how difficult it is to walk that balance between pragmatism and also defence of human rights, values, and principles” that are embodied in Canadian society.

“While we want to deepen economic engagement and we certainly see the logic of that… there are also serious issues, and forced labour is just one of them.”

Finding that balance between upholding Canadian “laws and values while at the same time not being displeasing to Beijing… is something that will continue to be an issue as [Canada] moves forward with this recalibration with China.”

Liberal MP Michael Ma apologizes following comments on forced labour in China

CTV News, March 28, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

Excerpt: “I believe that the messaging and the downplaying of serious human rights concerns in China sends the wrong signal and at the wrong time. It points to a bigger danger that our desire to stabilize and improve relations with China is being interpreted by some as the need to mute criticism or self-censor and remain silent on serious issues, issues the PRC views as sensitive, and I think that would be a mistake. 

"A serious China policy has to be on a dual track, one which pursues engagement that benefits our interests... but another track that remains clear eyed about serious issues on human rights, on economic security, on national security. And we should not be self-censoring and sending a signal to Beijing that we are prepared to walk back on all our principles in the interest of stability in this relationship."

Insights from Mark Carney's Asia Visit: Canada, Germany, and Indo-Pacific partnerships

KAS Canada Unfiltered (podcast), March 26, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

Excerpt: “The Iran conflict is having massive global implications...and Canada certainly as an energy and agricultural superpower, this is a moment for us to really step up and get as much of our products to market as possible. If there was ever a moment for us to diversify trading relations and try to go global, this is it...that essentially, unfortunately, means still relying on U.S export infrastructure to ship more LNG and oil to the U.S., then through the Gulf of Mexico to Europe," and parts of the Middle East and Asia. 

Nadjibulla adds that "if anything, the Iran conflict stresses the need to diversify supplies and to have as many options as possible."

Carney’s mega anti-Trump alliance starts quest to save world trade

POLITICO, March 25, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

Excerpt: “There is clearly growing recognition that if consensus-based reform at the WTO remains blocked, willing countries will need parallel mechanisms to move ahead on specific issues,” said Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

Advancing Arctic Sovereignty Through Indo-Pacific Defence Partnerships

Policy Magazine, March 24, 2026

Featuring: Hema Nadarajah, Program Manager, Southeast Asia, APF Canada 

Excerpt: "Protecting Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic depends increasingly on secure access to supply chains, fabrication hubs, and software-control regimes beyond its borders.

The federal government’s recent Arctic investment—exceeding $40 billion across defence infrastructure, transportation, energy, and surveillance—signals a shift toward sustained northern capability. Yet this shift also highlights a structural reality: the platforms that underpin Arctic defence rely on globally concentrated production networks, particularly in the Indo-Pacific."

‘Stronger Philippines-Canada ties needed for critical minerals supply chain’

The Philippine Star, March 22, 2026

Featuring: Vina Nadjibulla, Vice-President Research & Strategy, APF Canada

Excerpt: Vina Nadjibulla, APF Canada vice president for research, specifically identified critical minerals – which underpin high-tech industries and advanced defence systems – as a cornerstone of the two nations’ deepening partnership and said the two countries must leverage their complementary strengths to build a more resilient economic future in the region.

“This is the moment to deploy our critical minerals, both for our digital needs and our sustainability goals, as well as obviously defence industrial actions,” Nadjibulla said.

She also underscored the strategic necessity of “building supply chains that are democratic, that are not just dependent on China,” to be able to navigate an increasingly “divided and dangerous” global landscape.