The Weston family just bid a whopping $12.5 million on the Hudson’s Bay charter
But it won’t be hanging in their living room
The fate of Canada’s oldest department store is still TBD, but the fate of the royal charter that established the Hudson’s Bay Company way back in 1670 is nearly secure following a $12.5-million bid from the Weston family to buy the historical document and donate it to the Canadian Museum of History.
Related: A billionaire from China now owns 28 Hudson’s Bay leases. But what about the Toronto flagship?
Canada’s history buffs had their bloomers in a knot earlier this year when Hudson’s Bay announced its intention to auction off a vast collection of art and artifacts including the 355-year-old charter. The fear was that a private collector might swoop in to hoard pieces of national history, but the Weston bid (considerably over asking, according to the Globe and Mail) makes that seem unlikely.
For anyone who snoozed during tenth-grade history, the royal charter was issued by King Charles II, giving HBC exclusive trading rights over almost a third of Canadian land. The problem, of course, was that the land was—to borrow a Britishism—not his bloody territory to hand over, having been home to Indigenous peoples since time immemorial.
Related: Inside the last day of Hudson’s Bay’s Toronto flagship
So, yes, an important if far from boast-worthy part of our heritage will land in a public setting. The museum has announced its intention to engage in “meaningful consultation with Indigenous communities” about the appropriate context for presentation. Meanwhile, Galen Weston Jr. issued a statement saying, “At a time when Canada is navigating profound challenges and seeking renewed unity, it is more important than ever that we hold fast to the symbols and stories that define us as a nation.”
Overall, it feels like a win-win: Canada gets the chance to preserve an important historical document, and the Weston family gets some positive PR. Sure, $12.5 million is a lot of money, but given Weston’s personal fortune (in the neighbourhood of $18 billion) and the constant criticism the Loblaws owner faces from Canadians increasingly unable to afford groceries at his stores, it’s a small price to pay.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
