Why this article is proposed
Any constitutional change requires a rulebook for the transition: which existing laws continue, who keeps their office, how courts handle pending cases, and how the new framework comes into force. The article supplies that rulebook.
What it would change
Existing Alberta laws, institutions, contracts, and orders continue in force unless they conflict with the new constitution. Officeholders stay in their offices and their institutions are reconstituted at the earliest practicable time. Courts continue to handle pending cases under an interpretive direction that favours liberty, local self-government, and limited state power in cases of ambiguity. Federal laws and programs continue to apply unless expressly rejected. The Constitution takes effect on ratification by province-wide referendum.
The legal basis
Transitional provisions are a standard feature of constitutional adoption and are within Alberta's authority under Constitution Act, 1982 s.45. The model is Constitution Act, 1867 s.129, which continued the laws, courts, and officers of the pre-Confederation colonies. The article does not displace any federal jurisdiction; federal law applies within Alberta on its own terms.
Open questions
Two questions for Albertans: how to handle existing provincial legislation that may be inconsistent with the new constitution, given the volume of potentially affected statutes and regulations; and what referendum threshold is appropriate for ratification under Section 6, since the article does not specify whether ratification requires a simple majority province-wide or a more demanding measure.