2016年，蔡英文總統代表政府正式向原住民族道歉，並宣示將儘速落實原住民族自治。自此之後，各界便開啟了新一波的自治討論。在政府所參採的各國經驗中，又以加拿大的「現代條約」模式受到最多關注。有鑑於此，本文擬從「制度設計」的角度出發，通過移地研究的實證資料，來對加國自治制度作一全面性的檢討。分析後發現，原住民族條約以協商來確認彼此關係的做法，確實有助於提升原住民族與政府間的持續溝通。即便如此，當中涉及原住民族主權的關鍵爭議，卻依然難解。這也使得所謂的「國與國關係」之意涵難免還是繼續呈現各說各話的狀態。此外，在當前新自由主義的政策框架下，自治未必有助於公共服務的提升，甚至可能加速原住民族區成為三不管地帶。這些對於原住民族而言，都是和政府簽訂條約之前必須時時警惕與注意的問題。

In 2016, President Tsai Ing-Wen delivered a National Apology to the Taiwanese indigenous peoples. Soon after her apology, the Taiwanese government tabled a new proposal for materializing her promise of indigenous self-government. This proposal adopts the Canadian model of modern treaties. That means, the government will establish a tripartite mechanism of negotiation, under which both central, local governments and indigenous tribes/groups could finalize an agreement accordingly. Using detailed policy exposition in tandem with interviews in Canada, this article analyses the modern-treaty model through the lens of institutional design. It argues that modern treaties provide a useful mechanism for renewing and redefining Crown- indigenous relationships. It however still cannot solve the highly contentious debates about indigenous/tribal sovereignty; therefore, the so-called “nation-to-nation” relationship remains unclear and indecisive. Moreover, the modern treaty model is based on the ideology of neoliberalism. Under this neoliberal thinking, there is no promise that better public service is provided for the indigenous peoples.