Spatialising New Constitutionalism: The Secwepemc People versus Sun Peaks Resort Corporation in British Columbia, Canada

This article focuses on the local governance process that occurred between the Secwepemc indigenous people and Sun Peaks Resort Corporation regarding the construction of a ski resort in the province of British Columbia in Canada. The article argues that this process was a localised manifestation of what Stephen Gill has labelled ‘new constitutionalism’ for it sought to contractualise the subsumption of a locality under the logics of capital accumulation in the world economy. The article uses this case study to endorse Gill's notion of new constitutionalism but seeks to emphasise the mechanisms of spatial scale transformation and regulation that occur through constitutionalised social relations in concrete, situated settings.