Alberta PC leader not sure why his party rejected drug funding while in power

Interim PC leader RicMcIver says he can't explain why his former government rejected $1.4 million in drug treatment fundingfrom the federal government.

• Alberta's former PC government rejected $1.4M in drug treatment funding

Documents obtained by CBC News show Alberta Health sought approval from Health Canada for the funding, but then rejected it in March2015in the midst of thefentanylcrisis.

McIver says he can't speculate on why the unconditional money was turned down.

"It would appear from the documents released that money was not taken when it could have been. The big question is why?I don't have that answer, but I'm certainlyinterested in it," he said.

The NDP government says it has restarted negotiations with the federal government to fund new programs under Ottawa's Anti-Drug Strategy Initiative.