The Empire Club of Canada
Hybrid
Monday, November 10, 2025
A Remembrance Day Event exploring the power and potential of Young Women. Learn how 40,000 teenage girls that produced the food feeding Canada and WWII soldiers helped pave the way for change and the leaders of today.
During World War War II, while men fought overseas, a quiet evolution was taking place in the fields of rural Canada. At a time when farm work was considered “a man’s job”, the Farmerettes (teenage girls from across Canada) responded to the call-to-action and took on a critical task of feeding a country at war. Without knowing it, they sowed seeds of gender equality and economic empowerment that would fuel future generations.
Their story isn’t only about the war effort, it is about how underestimated teens answered the call of duty and accomplished great things, redefining the definition of strength and what was possible for women in the work force.
On November 10th, The Empire Club Foundation together with the Empire Club of Canada will present a private screening of We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of Ontario Farmerettes followed by a panel discussion entitled She Answered the Call that examines an important historical gender role disruption and what it means for today’s workforce, and the power of youth to make change in 2025.
Our expert panel will include Bonnie Sitter, Historical Producer of We Lend a Hand and co-author of Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz; Colin Field, Producer and Director of We Lend a Hand, an award-winning director with a background in education and corporate learning, and Lechin Lu, Associate Director at the Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. This event is moderated by Adrienne Batra, Editor-in-Chief of the Toronto Sun.
Prior to the panel, Gilbert Reid, Historian, Writer, Broadcaster, and Founding Director, The King and Empire Foundation, will deliver special remarks on the history of WWII period in Canada and lay the foundation for how a wartime call-to-action broke open opportunities for young women.
This event will focus on students and youth attendees who will have an opportunity to be a part of ringing the closing bell at the TSX. The Empire Club Foundation will also work with high schools, colleges, and Universities to organize a live virtual screening of both the film and the panel to follow. Please contact us to get your school involved.
Event Schedule:
1:00 PM -2:00 PM | Screening of “We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of Ontario Farmerettes”
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM | Panel Discussion: “Exploring Feminism, Labour, and Legacy Through the Story of the Farmerettes”
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Reception
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM | TSX Closing Bell Ceremony
Gilbert Reid has written for the Globe and Mail, the Times Literary Supplement, the Literary Review of Canada, Exile Quarterly, and many other publications; His CBC IDEAS show, War Science, dealt with the development of technology in WW1. Gilbert Reid’s France and Gilbert Reid’s Italy, both five-hour series, featured on CBC radio’s IDEAS show, and television productions written by Gilbert include the two six-hour series For King and Empire: Canadians in WWI and For King and Country: Canadians in WWII, as well as many TV specials on military and engineering topics.
Adrienne Batra was born and raised in Saskatchewan. She has an undergraduate degree in political science and a Masters in Public Administration. Ms. Batra worked at the Saskatchewan Legislature as a researcher with the opposition caucus office. She then moved on to be the Manitoba Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Canada’s largest taxpayer advocacy group. In 2010, Ms. Batra was the Director of Communications for the Rob Ford for Mayor campaign, and moved on to serve in the Office of the Mayor as Ford’s Press Secretary. Upon leaving City Hall, she became the Comment Editor and columnist for the Toronto Sun and political commentator on Newstalk 1010.Â
In June of 2015, Ms. Batra was appointed as the Editor in Chief of the Toronto Sun and 24Hours Toronto. She has appeared on Fox Business News, CNN and BBC and is a frequent contributor on Global News and CTV News Channel, CP24 and AM640.
Ms. Batra also served in the Canadian Armed Forces, obtaining the rank of Lieutenant, and was nominated for a YWCA Woman of Distinction award. In 2013 she was awarded with a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and serves on the Board of Governors for the National Newspaper Awards, Canadian Journalism Foundation and is a board member of George Brown College and the Randolph School of the Arts.
Colin Field is an independent filmmaker based in London Ontario.
After successful careers as a teacher and as a pioneer in learning technologies for major corporations, he now focuses his passion for storytelling through filmmaking. In 2022 he founded Albireo Films.
Colin’s other creative pursuits include nature photography, song writing, and playing clawhammer banjo.
Bonnie spent her childhood in Exeter, Ontario. In 1966, she and her husband Conrad moved to Deep River where she managed the Travel Dept. at Atomic Energy of Canada at the Chalk River Nuclear Labs.
While raising her two sons, she opened and operated her own successful travel agency.
In 1986, she sold her business and returned to Exeter to help care for her parents. She also continued her career as a travel consultant.
Bonnie enjoys reading and researching history, attending theatre and concerts, and since retiring in 2008 after more than 40 years in the travel industry, she has enjoyed photography and writing.
She has co-authored 2 books ” The Beauty and Bounty of Huron County” and “Agriculture Today: A Portrait of Family Farms in Ontario”. More recently she self published a book titled “On The Wright Track: Memories From CPR School Car #2”.
The always curious Bonnie once found a captivating little black and white image in her archive: a group of smiling young women on a running board. When she flipped the photo, an intriguing caption read: “Farmerettes 1946.” The more she researched, the more she enjoyed the history she was discovering. She decided that perhaps this was a story that others might like.
“Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: Memories of Ontario Farmerettes”, co-authored with Shirleyan English, was published in 2019. A play was developed from the book and was performed on two stages in 2024. A Farmerette stamp was introduced for Remembrance Day in 2024 due to Bonnie’s lobbying. Now, a 50 minute documentary film has been produced. Directed by Colin Field, “We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of the Ontario Farmerettes” is a documentary film that tells the extraordinary story of a contingent of 40,000 teenage girls who volunteered on Canadian farms and helped to win the Second World War. Bonnie is a recipient of the King Charles 111 Coronation Medal awarded in March 2025.
Lechin Lu is the Associate Director at the Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE) at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She brings over a decade of experience at the intersection of research, communications, and community engagement, with a focus on inclusive business innovation and gender equity. Her work has spanned youth engagement, civic education, health promotion, and gender lens investing, and she has led cross-sector collaborations that connect business, government, and nonprofit partners.
Lechin holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management and a Master of Social Work from the University of Calgary. She also serves on the board of the Working Women Community Centre, a Toronto-based organization supporting immigrant and refugee women and their families.
