The Robert Burns’ Supper commemorates a poet who has left his
mark on Scots across the globe. The Prince Albert Caledonian
Society will be hosting the supper on Friday Jan. 25. According
to history, the man was many things. He was a poor, malnourished
farmer, a poet and a lover. He is widely considered to have been
a rake and a womanizer but is lesser known for his works of
poetry that championed the rights of women, said Rodney Thomson,
key-note speaker at this year’s Robert Burns’ Supper. “He was a
known womanizer and a rake in his own right, but he was also 200
years ahead of his time in terms of promoting women’s
liberation. So this is what I’ve concentrated on,” Thomson said.
He points out that women did not win the right to vote in Canada
until 1917. It was not until 1954 that the United Nations
adopted the Convention on the Political Rights of Women, which
declare women as having equal rights in voting, holding office
and gaining access to public services. “(There was) a little bit
of conflict with his