Hudson’s Bay wants to revert to its original plan to auction off its founding charter after more parties signalled interest in buying — then donating — the 1670 document, new court documents say.
The Ontario Superior Court had been due to hear a motion earlier this month approving the sale of the artifact to the Weston family of grocer Loblaw Cos. Ltd. fame. Their holding company Wittington Investments Ltd. offered $12.5 million for the charter and planned to donate it to the Canadian Museum of History.
The hearing was adjourned after DKRT Family Corp, a holding company owned by David Thomson, objected to the Weston sale. The firm acting on behalf of the billionaire chairman of Thomson Reuters was willing to spend at least $15 million on the document he wants to donate to the Archives of Manitoba.
Hudson’s Bay declined to comment Friday on news that it would return to the auction plan. The new court documents did not say who else was interested in the document but noted that the retailer will seek permission on Sept. 29 to auction off the charter on Oct. 15.
If it gets approval, interested parties will have until Oct. 3 to submit bids of no less than $15 million. The offers must include a commitment to permanently donate the charter to a Canadian public institution or museum that will share the document with other organizations and Indigenous groups. DKRT has committed to being the opening bidder with an offer of at least $15 million, the documents say.
The pitch is already facing opposition.
“The idea of reverting to an auction for the Royal Proclamation Charter is alarming,” Cody Groat, a professor of history and Indigenous studies at Western University, said in an email. “This puts the fate of this highly consequential document into question once again.”
Given the amounts offered by the Thomson and Weston families, he said, “it is doubtful Indigenous nations will be able to partake in this auction.”
The charter was issued by King Charles II about 355 years ago. It gave the Bay — then a burgeoning fur trade business — rights to a vast swath of land spanning most of Canada and extraordinary power over trade and Indigenous relations for decades.
It remained at the Bay’s Toronto headquarters, seldom seen by the public, until the retailer once known as Canada’s oldest company closed its stores after filing for creditor protection in March. The charter was then moved to an undisclosed facility while it awaits its fate.
In addition to the charter, Hudson’s Bay has said it has 1,700 pieces of art and more than 2,700 artifacts it intends to sell.
Judge Peter Osborne gave the company permission to start working with Heffel Gallery to prepare for an auction of the items but no date was set for the sale.
A motion filed Friday by Alvarez & Marsal, an independent third party monitoring the Bay’s creditor protection case, asked for court approval to sell the retailer’s art through a process separate from the charter auction. The matter will be heard on Sept. 25.
The documents say 24 artifacts in the art collection believed to be of Indigenous origin or heritage would not be part of the auction and will be returned or donated instead.
Their removal follows months of objections from archivists, historians and Indigenous communities concerned about what would happen to any sacred or important cultural items the Bay still had in its possession.
The documents don’t list the artifacts being removed from the sale but mention that three are on loan to an undisclosed museum.
The motion seeks to hold an online auction for the art on Nov. 12, with an in-person auction to follow on Nov. 19 at Heffel’s Toronto site.
While the Bay has yet to disclose what is in the trove hitting the auction block, a source familiar with the process, who was not authorized to speak publicly, previously told The Canadian Press the retailer still has paintings dating back to 1650, point blankets, paper documents and even collectible Barbie dolls.
The new court filings also address four war memorials located at various Bay stores and an additional two held in storage. Alvarez & Marsal says the Bay has “undertaken efforts to ensure appropriate future locations for these memorials to ensure ongoing access in the cities in which they are currently located.”
As part of those discussions, it says the Bay has had discussions with Canadian institutions and veteran’s associations to ensure the war memorials are donated and displayed appropriately.
In April, lawyer E. Patrick Shea, who also sits on the senate of the 48th Highlanders of Canada and is the RCAF Foundation’s secretary, said he wanted two of the displays commemorating Bay and Simpsons workers who died in the Second World War to be saved.
He was hoping the Bay would aid in his plans to find a home for a memorial from the company’s flagship downtown Toronto store and a bronze plaque at a Calgary location featuring dozens of names of employees who died in the war.
