Joel Lexchin has been writing about pharmaceutical policy issues for 30 years and has penned more than 15 articles for us – all of which have raised important questions about Big Pharma. Today in The Conversation Canada, the professor of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto brings to light another important issue: the potential conflicts of interest among panelists who serve on Health Canada’s scientific advisory committees on prescription drug policies.

A number of politicians and political scientists have weighed in on Québec’s controversial Bill 21, but today we have a thoughtful analysis by religious scholar David Pfrimmer of Wilfrid Laurier University. He says that rather than protecting French culture and safeguarding the public against religious coercion, the proposed law “may enact a new dominant and coercive state-directed civil religion.”

The Royal Mint recently released a coin intended to note a significant anniversary for LGBTQ rights – the 50th anniversary of legislation that removed some same-sex acts from the Criminal Code. Elise Chenier of Simon Fraser University looks back at some of the key moments in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights over the last half century.

And finally…we leave you with an ode to dirt, or, to be more specific, soil. Derek Lynch of Dalhousie University writes about the different facets of soil that reveal a complex and fascinating cultural and evolutionary history.

Regards,