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Natalie Odd, an Alberta Party member and mother of two, attended an open house held by Mr. Dirks over the weekend, hoping to confront the minister about spending cuts.

“The Gay Straight Alliance is, to me, an issue where if somebody’s beliefs are very socially conservative, if they are in the position of education minister, I believe that is relevant,” Ms. Odd said. After the open house, Ms. Odd said she took Mr. Dirks aside and began to question him about another evolution.

“He said, it’s possible to believe in creation and evolution. I wasn’t getting an answer out of him,” she said. “As we were walking away, he threw up his hands and said: ‘I’m an Old Earth Guy.'”

The comments were confirmed by other attendees, and Mr. Heyman.

Brian Alters knows the term quite well, however. Alters is president for the U.S.-based National Center for Science Education, a professor at Chapman University in California and previously on the faculty of McGill University. He said “Old Earth” creationism encompasses a spectrum of beliefs. Old Earth creationists generally accept that the earth is older than 10,000 years. Beyond that, however, beliefs range. Some believe that evolution is the mechanism by which God guides life on earth. Others totally reject the generally accepted scientific theory of biological evolution.

Mr. Dirks declined to elaborate on his view further when questioned by the Post.

“With the education minister, if this is something that he practices in his place of worship with colleagues of similar faith, I think most scientists wouldn’t have the slightest problem,” Mr. Alters said. “The problem is if the education minister says ‘I’m an Old Earth creationist because I think there’s credible evidence against evolution. I find evolution to not be credible.’ Then we have big problems, Houston.”

jgerson@nationalpost.com

Twitter.com/jengerson