Winnipeg’s downtown Hudson’s Bay building, which turns 100 years old in four years, began a rebirth on Friday as the company rooted in a fur trading past with Indigenous people transferred the property to a First Nations group.
“This place is a place to be honoured and supportive of First Nations people, our rich history, and invite all who wish to come and learn together,” said Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization.
The powerful symbolism of having a colonial store in the hands of Indigenous Peoples will stand as a “beacon of hope,” Daniels said.
In a nod to history, the SCO handed two beaver pelts and two elk hides to Richard Baker, the governor and executive chairman of the Hudson’s Bay Co., as a symbolic payment for the building.
According to the HBC royal charter of 1670, the rent of two beaver and two elk was to be paid by the company whenever a British monarch visited Canada, said SCO chief operating officer Jennifer Rattray.
“The ceremony surrounding the payment was only performed four times in HBC history,” she said.
Flanked by members of the SCO chiefs’ executive committee on Friday, Daniels and Baker conducted it for the fifth time.
Daniels received a replica of the type of gold coin used as the original trade exchange currency between the HBC and First Nations. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)
With that SCO “is reclaiming the rent ceremony and together with the Hudson’s Bay Co., we are leading change and reconciliation,” Daniels said.
“This marks the beginning of a new future for First Nations peoples and for all Canadians.”
Baker was also presented with a traditional beaver pelt hat.
In turn, he gave Daniels a replica of a gold coin used as the original trade exchange currency between HBC and First Nations, and a print of an 1819 map by HBC surveyor Peter Fidler of part of southern Manitoba.
Southern Chiefs’ Organization youth delegate Sophia Smoke, who was chosen as the oral historian for the event, says the new chapter for the building will give Indigenous youth hope for the future.
“This isn’t impossible anymore. We are slowly breaking glass ceilings, it’s our job now and we can be excited and we don’t have to dream anymore,” she said.
“One day I will be telling these stories and that is why it’s so important to be here.”
Sophia Smoke, 14, was designated as the oral historian for the event. (CBC)
The 14-year-old said housing has been an issue for Indigenous people, but the building will do more than just put a roof over their heads.
“A place to come together where we know we will be accepted, and a place where we can come and know we are Indigenous and we can be that together, will do wonders for confidence and mental health and even housing,” she said.
Closed in 2020, the six-storey, 655,000-square-foot landmark building at the corner of Portage Avenue and Memorial Boulevard was appraised at $0 in 2019 because it has a tax liability in excess of $300,000 and would cost an estimated $111 million to bring up to code while maintaining its heritage elements.
Daniels called the donation of the building to the SCO a “historic and monumental” step toward reconciliation in Canada.
“Reconciliation is not just a word, it is meant to have action, and this is an example of that action,” he said. “Today sets the standard of what reconciliation in our country can look like.”
The Hudson’s Bay building now displays Southern Chiefs’ Organization branding. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)
Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn — meaning “it is visible” in Anishinaabemowin, or Ojibway — is the name of the project, which promises 289 affordable housing units for members of southern Manitoba First Nations, two restaurants, a public atrium, a rooftop garden, a museum and an art gallery.
The residential units will “address a crisis and dire shortage of First Nations housing,” Daniels said. “Up to 500 people will find shelter and opportunity for success here.”
With plans for a health centre that will embrace both western and traditional medical practices, it will also be a place where elders “will be supported and continue to share their world wisdom,” Daniels said.
It will also become the governance house for the chiefs of the southern First Nations in Manitoba, he added.
The SCO represents 34 Anishinaabe and Dakota Nations in southern Manitoba and more than 81,000 people.
“The vision really is to create as much opportunity as we can,” Daniels said, adding the investment in the project will benefit the entire city.
An artist’s rendition of the transformed Hudson’s Bay store in Winnipeg is shown in a handout. One of the landmark stores formerly run by the Hudson’s Bay Co. is about to undergo a major transformation. (Submitted by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization)
Baker, a U.S. investor who bought HBC in 2008, was unable to pronounce “Anishinaabe” in his land acknowledgment and stumbled over the word “reconciliation,” but didn’t shy away from the Bay’s tumultuous history with First Nations.
That history includes a fur trade that dramatically changed how First Nations people lived, opening up Indigenous lands to European settlement and eventually selling Rupert’s Land — a vast territory of northern wilderness that represented its trading monopoly area — to Canada without consulting the Indigenous people or considering their sovereignty.
“HBC played a definitive role in the colonization of Canada. The impact of our country’s history is not at all lost on me and is part of the reason we are all here today,” Baker said.
Another image from an artist’s rendition of the transformed HBC store shows the atrium and café. (Submitted by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization)
“This is why I know that this dedication about this building is the right one. The Southern Chiefs’ Organization has a revolutionary vision for this iconic space and what it can bring to the city of Winnipeg and to the province of Manitoba.
“Where we stand now will become a hub for governance and culture, heritage and healing, commerce and care. There is no better group to take stewardship of this space and truly make it their own.”
The Manitoba government is providing $35 million to help with the redevelopment of the space (a $25-million trust fund announced last year and $10 million just announced for the housing component).
Another $65 million is coming from the federal government (a $55-million forgivable loan and a $10-million low-cost loan).
Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said the city has been asked to improve streetscaping and contribute tax increment financing, which would involve forgoing future property tax revenue emanating from the site.
Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson believes the redeveloped building, sitting empty for two years, “is going to bring back that vibrancy to the downtown area … again it’s going to be a place for people to gather.”
Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson receives a canoe paddle from Baker. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Winnipeg for Friday’s transfer of ownership, said the news is about more than just a building.
“It’s actually about rebuilding — rebuilding trust, rebuilding landmarks and rebuilding relationships,” he said.
“Winnipeg has the largest Indigenous population of any city in Canada, and I know that today’s project will inspire people from coast to coast to coast.”
Phil Fontaine, former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said the transfer of ownership of the downtown landmark is “without a doubt” an act of reconciliation.
“That rebuilding of the relationship will be based on reclaiming this building, and transforming it into a place that will reflect the very deep interests of Indigenous peoples in the city and in the province,” Fontaine said.
“Reconciliation runs in many directions. Each path represents a challenge and as special as this moment has been, there is still an incredible journey that we have to walk together.”
Hudson’s Bay gives flagship Winnipeg building to First Nations group
1 day ago
Duration 1:59
Winnipeg’s iconic former Hudson’s Bay building has been gifted to the Southern Chiefs’ Organization, which plans to transform the space to include affordable housing, offices and retail and community space for the city’s Indigenous communities. 1:59
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
