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Thomson, Weston Families Unite With $18 Million Opening Bid for HBC’s 1670 Charter

The court-run process designates the offer as the opening bid, targeting a December auction.

Overview

  • The joint proposal would donate the charter under shared custody to the Archives of Manitoba, the Manitoba Museum, the Canadian Museum of History and the Royal Ontario Museum.
  • An additional $5 million is pledged for conservation, public display, education and a national consultation that includes First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
  • Manitoba would be designated the document’s official home, with the first public exhibition planned there after donation.
  • Court filings state the offer serves as the opening bid, with a hearing on auction permission set for Nov. 21, bidder interest due by Nov. 28 and an auction to occur no later than Dec. 6.
  • HBC and its adviser say a joint bid required prior consent, a position the bidders dispute, while the proposal has backing from the Desmarais family, Power Corporation and the Hennick Family Foundation and a support letter from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.