We now know that newly minted Education Minister Gordon Dirks will stand as a candidate in Calgary-Elbow, and we now also know that voters there will decide on Oct. 27 whom they shall send to represent them in the legislature.

What we don’t know is how much of the byelection will actually be about Dirks himself, or, more importantly, what kind of an education minister he will be. More than likely, the campaign will be dominated by the looming shadow of Alison Redford and the sins of her regime, as well as the decisions undertaken by new Premier Jim Prentice and whether voters believe he represents real change.

If Dirks is defeated as a result of one or more of those factors, then his reign as Education minister will almost certainly be cut short and questions about whether his selection was appropriate will be moot. And while that represents an entirely plausible scenario, one should not write off Dirks’ chances.

Therefore, such questions ought to be explored. And Dirks has a history and a track record we can scrutinize.

What has been particularly controversial about Dirks’ selection is his rather passionate Christianity, and the question of whether his evangelicalism will shape his tenure as minister.

Dirks is a former pastor at Calgary’s Centre Street Church, and the church’s position on homosexuality and transgenderism is not exactly welcoming or accommodating. Both the premier and Dirks, though, have attempted to squelch any concerns that Alberta schools will be unfriendly environments for such children, and even sought out a meeting with noted gay rights advocate Kristopher Wells.

But the questions go deeper than that. For example, what about sex education in Alberta schools, and the infiltration of religious-based abstinence programs? A human rights complaint has recently been filed in Edmonton over the public school district’s use of a Christian abstinence education program.

The program in question was provided by the Pregnancy Care Centre. It just so happens that the executive director of the Calgary Pregnancy Care Centre is the chair of the Centre Street Church’s board of governors. Given Dirks’ relationship with this organization — and his presumed affection for their work — it poses a bit of a conflict for him, and begs the question whether he believes such programs are appropriate within the public system.

Additionally, Dirks has previously supported incorporating private religious schools into the public system. Such partnerships have proven to be problematic, though, as some of these now publicly funded and supported religious schools have provisions specifically forbidding students and teachers from engaging in “homosexual relationships.”

Given that Dirks was also president of a religious college with such policies, it again begs the question of how that will shape the ministerial response to the matter and what sort of direction school boards will receive. It certainly appears as though he does not view such requirements as discriminatory — others see it quite differently.

It doesn’t end there. There’s been ongoing debate in a number of school divisions about the reciting of the Lord’s Prayer in public schools. There’s the question of whether publicly funded schools can ban student-led gay straight alliances. Dirks will be tasked with responding to these matters.

In a 2012 sermon at the Centre Street Church, Dirks talks about how God “wants more from us that just ‘talk talk’ Christianity,” and how all Christians need to be “agents” of “redemption.” Where does he draw the line on this activist approach?

No one should ever be disqualified from holding public office on the basis of one’s religious views, Gordon Dirks included. But it’s misleading and simplistic to say the legitimate questions around Dirks’ fitness for this portfolio stem from an anti-religion or anti-Christian bigotry.

Alberta’s education system faces a delicate balance in remaining secular and inclusive for all. There’s sufficient reason to believe we have the wrong person overseeing that.

Rob Breakenridge is a talk-show host with NewsTalk 770. His column appears every Tuesday.