You can walk into Gerald Patty’s Barbershop in Alexandria, Ontario any given day of the week and The Senate will be in session. Of course this is not the gang from the red chamber in Ottawa. These are the local townfolk who congregate each day to pass the time and talk about how they view of the world.

They’ve been at it as long as anyone can remember. Sometimes they even get their hair cut.

During your visit you will most likely witness a wide variety of topics. Ewan, from The Priest’s Mill, can usually be good for a good rant or twenty against whatever government sent him a bill that morning. When Michael Sean arrives the talk should shift to agricultural economics. Then there is Oakley Bush. He always tries to interject into the conversation how the use of carriages and cutters that were produced at the turn of the nineteenth century in the local buggy works would improve the current situation. He’ll also add that the railways have gone way downhill since he retired from his work with them.

Every small town has a Senate. Whether they meet in legion halls, country stores, the grain co-op, or the coffee shop, you can guarantee people have an opinion about their world and want to share it. The Senate gives them their chance.

Each week, this thirty minute program travels off the beaten path allowing people to come together a join in constructive criticism of their world and provide a “sober second thought” on today’s events and the issues that are relevant to them.