I suspect there will be a two-way battle for the NDP nomination. Alexa’s longtime executive assistant Anne Marie Foote will probably square off against Alexis MacDonald, who is no stranger to federal election campaigns. MacDonald, now a resident of Halifax, carried the NDP banner in Central Nova in two elections.

Who will run for the Conservatives is anybody’s guess. Mainly because they wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. Why? Can you spell H-A-R-P-E-R, as in Prime Minister Stephen? Nova Scotians don’t like him and don’t trust him.

Personally, I like some  of the things he is attempting, especially the crackdown on crime. Do I trust him? Yes, but not the loonies who came over from the Reform and Alliance parties - extremists with some very extreme goals. For that reason, if the Conservatives prevail and win the next election, hopefully it will be another minority government.  I digress.

And then there’s the Liberals, a party that used to be all inclusive, and one that embraced young and old, male and female and especially new Canadians. There was a comfort level unfelt in other circles. Ah, but that was many moons ago.

As a friend, who once offered as a provincial Liberal candidate confided, “It is not the party of our youth.” Amen. Amen. Amen.

Personally, I am still waiting for them to apologize for the sponsorship scandal. Another topic, for another day.

Back to the present, and the Liberal Party of Halifax. Today, at least in Halifax, it’s an old girl’s club. A club that is apparently headed up by a former member of parliament, Mary Clancy. Now Mary has always been a bit over the top and, as they say, has more tongue than a mountie’s boot. Knowing that, I am not usually shocked by her utterances.

Then, last Saturday, I read Stephen Maher’s column in the Chronicle-Herald. Why his talent was wasted for all those years doing restaurant reviews boggles the mind. But I stray.

Stephen quoted  Mary, who is in charge of the candidate search, as saying  “I can’t tell you everyone who’s going to run, but I’ll tell you – over my dead body – it won’t be male.”

Well isn’t that just grand. How many young males did that scare away from the Liberal Party? Why would they join a group where they wouldn’t be considered because, through an accident of birth, they’ve been disqualified. The accident? Being born a male.

Groucho Marks once said he would never join a club that would have him as a member. Well, this one time Grit will never support a party where I am not treated as an equal.

Little wonder we have to spend nine million dollars on something called Democracy 250, attempting to get people interested in politics. If John Hamm and Russell MacLellan want to get to the root of the problem, they might start by having a chat with Mary Clancy. Provided of course, she deems it appropriate to speak to males.

(Al Hollingsworth is a retired journalist and, because of a birth defect not qualified to be a Liberal candidate)