Back in junior high school, I had a math tutor that would spend our sessions asking me the hardest questions he had in his textbook, but would never do any math himself. Eventually, I asked him flat-out to solve one of the many near impossible questions he had given me and he quickly changed the subject. For the remaining time he was my tutor, I spent my time thinking that he couldn’t answer the questions he was being paid to answer.

That’s how I felt about Gary Goodyear this past week.

The Minister of Science deflected questions about his belief in evolution to The Globe and Mail after a speech to the Economic Club of Canada on Wednesday. “My view isn’t important. My personal beliefs are not important. What’s important is that this government is doing the right thing for science and technology,” he said. He then attempted to clarify his statements on CTV’s Power Play by stating he does believe in evolution. Some type of it, at least.

“We are evolving every day, every decade,” he said. “That’s a fact, whether it is to the intensity of the sun, whether it is to, as a chiropractor, walking on cement versus anything else, whether it is running shoes or high heels – of course we are evolving to our environment.” It’s a poor shame that his example isn’t a correct. What he actually defined is a lifestyle adaptation rather than evolution.

Evolution involves genetic changes passed from one generation to the next. If changes aren’t made to the genes, it doesn’t count. I have to doubt evolution would be such a hotly contested issue if it meant deciding to wear a sweater when you feel cold.

What’s staggering is that Mr. Goodyear is attempting to convince the country that his personal beliefs are irrelevant to the position he’s in. What are politicians if not citizens that think their views represent what the country wants. If Mr. Goodyear is so confident in the uselessness of his opinions, the people can make a similar judgment on the usefulness of him in his position.

Perhaps it would be understandable if he was asked a question on gay marriage, abortion, favorite character on Desperate Housewives – something irrelevant to his position. But he was being asked about evolution, one of the most controversial scientific topics currently being debated.
Sure, it could have been worse. Mr. Goodyear could have admitted that he believes we were all once dragons. Or that fossils are just coincidences. Or that a former chiropractor is an appropriate choice for minister of science.

I wonder if he can “evolve” to not having a job.

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1. Creationism vs. Science: The Canadian Front A month ago, if you had asked the average Canadian...

Tags: evolution, gary goodyear, minister of science, science and technology

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