The Bay department store chain, also known as HBC (Hudson's Bay Company), is nearly $1 billion in debt. Canada's oldest department store began liquidating 90 of its 96 stores this week, triggering widespread distress among its workforce and affiliated small businesses.
As well, HBC will pay up to $3 million total in retention bonuses to 121 managers and executives — but will not pay severance to its more than 9,300 workers, most of whom will soon lose their jobs.
Also at stake are pensions, health benefits and long-term disability supports, which according the lawyer representing the employees, affects a group of people that are "extremely vulnerable as they cannot work and are highly dependent on their long-term disability benefits for their livelihoods."
Hudson’s Bay filed for court protection on March 7 to shield itself from creditors while seeking financing. Unfortunately, the workers of HBC are only entitled to a maximum of $8,800 severance under the federal Wage Earner Protection Program Act, no matter if they worked there for 50 years of their life. That's a pittance.
Furthermore, disabled employees that HBC had been supporting may also be cut off. In addition to employees, small businesses that operated inside Bay stores also face losses.
HBC has all but given up on saving the 90 stores that are closing, and is barely clinging on to hope it can save six stores. As it stands, the courts will close the remaining stores by April 8. Several of Hudson's Bay's senior secured lenders — Bank of America, Pathlight Capital and Restore Capital — are eager to take first dibs of their debt back.
Why do patriotic Canadians allow the Bank of America to shut down North America's oldest company? The government should step in like they did during the 2008 economic crises that Mark Carney presided over, after the government bailed out the banking industry to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars (with a temporary loan) recently.
Robert Nelly
Cambrian Heights