Hybridity and Precarious Personhood: Limited Partnerships and Indigenous Economic Development

Abstract

Indigenous governments in Canada use sophisticated corporate structures to achieve their various economic development goals, of which the limited partnership is most certainly the most common. In a series of recent cases on the personhood of both Indigenous parties and on limited partnerships, courts have been redefining the relationship of personhood and property in the context of limited partnerships. This article canvasses developments in the case law of the personhood of Indigenous peoples alongside similar developments surrounding the nature of limited partnerships, raising questions about the ways that Indigenous governments may be further constrained by formerly unidentified colonial aspects of the law, as well as to identify specific issues that both general and limited partners need to confront before turning to this common business vehicle . The paper closes with some observations about colonial trends in the law governing the use of associations and business structures, posing questions for future research about the policy objectives at play.