The constitutional rights accorded francophone minorities in Canada by Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 seem fragile in terms of their recognition and their implementation. In this article, we attempt to understand the reasons underlying this situation. To that end, we analyze the ideological forces behind the interpretation and implementation of constitutional rights relating to the education of francophone minorities from 1867 to 1960. One conclusion arises from this analysis: minority education rights, despite their rational and argumentative character which confers upon them a seeming neutrality, do not lie beyond the sphere of social relations. Thy are a social construct deeply rooted in the ideological oppositions and relations of power which cut through society. In this way, the development, interpretation and implementation of minority education rights by virtue of Section 93 of the Constitutional Act, 1867 have been greatly influenced by the tensions existing between adherents of a homogeneist ideology and those of a dualist ideology. In its very conception, Section 93 is marked by the relations of power which prevailed at the time of Confederation. For their part, the courts entrenched the homogeneist ideology by giving Section 93 a static interpretation, the practical effect of which was to guarantee the wave of homogenisation which struck minority francophone schools prior to the 1960s.