This article proposes a theoretical framework to enable the analysis of the effect of legitimacy on the future of a minority. According to this model, external legitimacy does not always guarantee internal legitimacy. The model allows the analysis of the influence of power relations on the legitimacy of linguistic minorities not only through observable external pressures, but also by their penetration in the personal beliefs or social representations of individuals. The article presents results on hybrid identity, a phenomenon already very evident and observable in a majority of the members of francophone and Acadian communities. Francophones seem to be influenced by two legitimating discourses in opposition, that is to say the dominant ideology which grants precedence to the cultural legitimacy of the English language, and, concomitantly, experiences of solidarity with the francophone group which reinforce a discourse of legitimacy favourable to francophone communities.