The department store is nearly a century old, sitting two years empty and abandoned. But now, Winnipeg’s Hudson’s Bay building will find new life as Manitoba First Nations become the new owners.
The massive store will be transformed into as many as 300 units of housing, as well as incorporating community spaces.
“I think this is a symbol of the change,” Southern Grand Chief Gerry Daniels told CTV News. “I mean, where is there a more iconic building than right across from the legislative building?”
The six-floor department store was once the cornerstone of downtown Winnipeg, opening in 1926.
Areas that once housed racks of clothing, shoes and furs, will see not only living units, but also 100 daycare spaces, cultural and healing centers, and a rooftop garden.
Being able to have housing is essential, Daniels said.
“If you want to maintain a job, you want to go to school, you need housing. Our families need housing,” he said. “It’s the single most important challenge we have in our communities.”
It all comes at a yet unknown cost, but the biggest piece, the building itself, was gifted by the Hudson’s Bay Company to the Manitoba First Nations.
A positive step forward in a complicated relationship dating back more than 350 years — one that began with colonial theft and betrayal.
Before Canada existed as a country, the Hudson’s Bay Company were frequent trade partners with Indigenous groups. But they also played a huge part in the theft of Indigenous land, selling a third of what is now Canada to England in the late 1800s without consulting the Indigenous groups whose territories that land was made up of, while also failing to pay Indigenous groups what they were owed.
Daniels said that having a positive relationship with the Hudson’s Bay Company moving forward means a lot, pointing out that the relationship was once “great” in “the early days.”
Richard Baker, the governor, CEO and executive chairman of Hudson’s Bay Co., told CTV News that when they received the proposal from the Southern Chief’s Organization about their vision for the building, they were excited at the chance to make a move of reconciliation.
“We felt we had the responsibility to try and find the right solution for that building,” Baker said.
“What we’re going to do I think is going to be so significant,” Daniels said. “And I hope it creates hope for our children and people out there who are working really hard, who are very resilient, that we’re here with them, and that we’re working very hard with them, and that we’re going to build relationships with those who would be our allies in doing that.”
On Friday, all levels of government including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be on hand to offer funding for the project. The facade of the Bay will stay, and the transformed building could see its doors open again within three years.
“We want to create a good, vibrant Indigenous community in downtown Winnipeg,” Daniels said.