ABSTRACT
This chapter describes that the legal and constitutional orders rest on a principle of justice. This is an elementary legal principle, which includes a substantive element and a number of subsidiary principles. The legal question of legitimacy arises when the state fails to govern in accordance with the principle of justice. This is a legal rather than a political principle and is in keeping with the procedural thrust of contemporary liberalism. The contemporary idea that individuals and society have disparate interests is a philosophical rather than a legal convention. The philosophical arguments that have been made in advancing the cultural rights of minorities are significant because they suggest that it is in the interests of the whole society to respect the rights of minorities. In the Canadian context, this includes the principle of federalism, which 'facilitates the pursuit of collective goals by cultural and linguistic minorities which form the majority within a particular province'.
