TORONTO - The royal charter that created Hudson’s Bay in 1670 is on its way to the auction block.

Ontario Superior Court judge Peter Osborne on Friday approved a process that will see the document owned by the defunct retailer sold early next month. The auction will kick off with an $18-million bid from holding companies belonging to two of Canada’s richest families, the Westons and Thomsons.

“We are all interested to see what transpires by way of this,” Osborne said, after deciding an auction was the best course of action to ensure a “profound” document “remains here and a part of our history.”

The charter, signed by King Charles II more than 350 years ago, not only created HBC but gave the company control over one-third of modern Canada’s land mass, trade and Indigenous relations for

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