In this 16th episode of Markets and Leaders, host Lyndsay Malchuk sits down with Sander Grieve, Lead Director and Partner at Bennett Jones LLP, for a grounded, no-hype conversation about the real state of Canada‘s critical minerals ambition. While headlines focus on gold‘s strength and geopolitical turmoil, Sander points to the overlooked crisis: Canada has almost no refining or smelting capacity for its own minerals. More than 90% of what is mined heads to Asia for processing, then returns to Canada at a premium. He explains why the US is moving aggressively with equity and debt investments while Canada plays catch-up, how BC‘s land-use restrictions and complex community relations add friction, and why investors still favour gold for its certainty. The discussion also covers uranium as the next strategic bright spot, the lag in M&A activity despite cheap capital, and what it will take for Canada to move from talk to a thousand priority projects. If you want to understand whether Canada will lead the resource future or just supply it, this is the conversation to watch.