<P> On 6 February 1918, the Representation of the People Act 1918 was passed, enfranchising women over the age of 30 who met minimum property qualifications . About 8.4 million women gained the vote, not only in Britain and Ireland . In November 1918, the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918 was passed, allowing women to be elected into Parliament . The Representation of the People Act 1928 extended the voting franchise in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to all women over the age of 21, granting women the vote on the same terms as men . </P> <P> In 1999, Time magazine, in naming Emmeline Pankhurst as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, states: "...she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back". </P> <P> Women's political status without the vote was promoted by the National Council of Women of Canada from 1894 to 1918 . It promoted a vision of "transcendent citizenship" for women . The ballot was not needed, for citizenship was to be exercised through personal influence and moral suasion, through the election of men with strong moral character, and through raising public - spirited sons . The National Council position was integrated into its nation - building program that sought to uphold Canada as a White settler nation . While the women's suffrage movement was important for extending the political rights of White women, it was also authorized through race - based arguments that linked White women's enfranchisement to the need to protect the nation from "racial degeneration ." </P> <P> Women had local votes in some provinces, as in Ontario from 1850, where women owning property (freeholders and householders) could vote for school trustees . By 1900 other provinces had adopted similar provisions, and in 1916 Manitoba took the lead in extending women's suffrage . Simultaneously suffragists gave strong support to the Prohibition movement, especially in Ontario and the Western provinces . </P>

Who started the women's suffrage movement in canada