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| COLCO: Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners www.myleakycondo.com
P.O. Box 16041, New Westminster, B.C., V3M 6W6~ Canada Telephone 604-739-4190 Fax 604-739-4109 UPDATE - February 13, 2002 - COLCO received an email from The Bay and is considering the request to remove reference to The Bay from our web site. -----
Name:James Balderson
Dear Dr. Balderson; The Bay's cross-promotion activities with the CHBABC and The Vancouver Sun relative to the GEORGIE "People's Choice Awards" at The Bay are now complete. We will assess the values of the program over the next few months, and thank you, Katherine and Maureen for your input. In our accountability to all of our stakeholders, we will consider the full scope of the impact of this project, balancing the needs of stakeholders with our business requirements. A decision will be complete some time in June, 2002. Until that time, Hudson's Bay Company and The Bay respectfully
request that all references to the Company, its programs and its people
be removed from your web site, as of February 28th, 2002. Hudson's Bay
Company is Canada's oldest corporation and largest department store retailer.
With over 500 stores and 70,000 employees
Karen Jordan
------------------- COLCO MEDIA RELEASE 2002.01.25 - (For Immediate Release)~ HBC - THE BAY - AGREES TO MEET WITH COLCO OVER LEAKY CONDO ISSUE COLCO Challenges The Bay's Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility COLCO Asks The Bay Department Stores to Stop Supporting The Georgie Awards The Bay Agrees to meet with COLCO, will reconsider promoting CHBA Georgie Awards The Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners is calling on The Bay and the Hudson’s Bay Corporation (HBC)to explain how its Corporate Social Responsibility code is consistent with its sponsorship of the Georgie Awards. The Bay is a sponsor of the “People’s Choice Awards” a marketing program connected with the Canadian Home Builders Association of BC(CHBA-BC) and the CHBA-BC's Georgie Award Program. The Bay claims that socially responsible companies consider the “full scope of their impact on communities.” COLCO calls on The Bay to consider the impact of its support for the Georgies on thousands of leaky condo owners who live in communities served by the Bay. COLCO is disappointed The Bay decided to sponsor an award program involving people and organizations that are responsible for the leaky condo disaster. The CHBA-BC and many CHBA-BC members are responsible for the shoddy design and construction that created the leaky condo disaster in British Columbia and the bankruptcy of the New Home Warranty Program which was owned, controlled and directed by the CHBA. COLCO has identified many Georgie Award condominiums which are leaky rotten condos. A lawsuit filed in early January of this year accuses the CHBA-BC and numerous members of the CHBA-BC of breach of their duties, negligence, and fraud. The bankruptcy trustee for the New Home Warranty, Robert Rusko of KPMG Inc, filed the lawsuit in an attempt to recover money for people affected by the leaky condo disaster. Re/Max, a past sponsor of the Georgie Awards, reviewed their sponsorship of the Georgie Awards and decided against future sponsorship after being contacted by a member of COLCO. In a letter to a member of the Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners, Barbara Addy of RE/MAX International, Inc. wrote - "It is our understanding that the local RE/MAX Lower Mainland institutional advertising committee participated in sponsoring the Canadian Home Builders' Association of BC Georgie Awards. In no way was RE/MAX involved in choosing who would get that award, and participated in the sponsorship on the basis of participation in community support of what was thought to be an honorable community award system. After careful consideration of the circumstances herein, RE/MAX has chosen not to sponsor the Georgie Awards in the future." COLCO is asking The Bay and the Hudson’s Bay Corporation to follow the lead of RE/MAX and stop supporting the Georgie Awards. COLCO believes that The Bay's support of the CHBA-BC and the Georgie Awards, including the so-called People's Choice Award, is not consistent with the HBC’s stated position on corporate social responsibility. COLCO requested a meeting with The Bay. The Bay will meet with COLCO February 06, 2002. -30- BACKGROUND CORRESPONDENCE Dear James, This is in response to your email inquiry to HBC Corporate Communications on Wednesday January 23, 2002. The Bay was only involved in a cross-promotion with the Georgie Awards
and the Canadian Home Builders Association and is not a sponsor of the
Awards. The Bay has never been involved in the selection process for the
Georgie Awards. The Canadian Home Builders Association makes those decisions.
Furthermore, the Bay does not influence the outcome of the awards or the
Hudson's Bay Company, through its banner stores, invests in Canadian
communities through a number of channels. The local community stores
decide on priority of specific promotions and therefore, it is the local
Bay store that determines if the project is suitable for a cross-promotion
based on marketing objectives and customer feedback.
The Bay is currently involved in the cross-promotion for 2002 and will
evaluate at the end of the promotion to see if it will continue supporting
this endeavor based on customer feedback and other community response.
Hudson's Bay Company believes that a Company is obligated to be accountable to all of its stakeholders in all it operations and activities and constantly tries to demonstrate commitment to its espoused values by actively contributing to social and environmental goals. I understand that you are meeting with Karen Jordan, Special Events Manager at the Bay store in downtown Vancouver. She should be able to provide with further clarification regarding this promotion. Regards, Tammy Smitham
-----Original Message-----
Name:James Balderson
Title:Founding Member
Questions & Comments: Why does The Bay support the CHBA-BC Georgie
Awards given that members of the CHBA built thousands of leaky rotten condos
and operated a sham warranty company?
-----Original Message-----
Subject: Leaky Condos & The Bay & CHBA-BC & Georgie Awards & People's Choice Award Hello Karen, Thanks for returning my call. COLCO:The Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners would like to meet with you on Friday morning at The Bay Downtown, say, 10AM, January 25, 2002. We want to persuade The Bay to stop supporting the CHBA-BC Georgie Awards Program. We have found that Georgie Awards were presented to builders of many leaky rotten condos. We do not want The Bay to be associated with the builders of leaky rotten condos and a phony awards program which is just like the phony warranty program the CHBA-BC provided to purchasers. We want the builders to offer the same type of service and satisfaction that The Bay provides. Please confirm that you can meet with us. We think this is a matter of very high priority worthy of your immediate attention. -James Balderson
------------------- Contact Information for HBC - Corporate Web Site
Corporate Communications Department
Corporate Contacts: George Heller - President & Chief Executive Officer Hudson's Bay Company Marc Chouinard - Executive Vice-President, HBC
Rob Moore - Vice-President, Corporate Communications
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