Yellowknife, N.W.T. - The Department of Justice is hailing the decision by the federal government to continue funding the Aboriginal Justice Strategy.

It was announced recently that the program would receive $12.5 million for this fiscal year and while it's not new funding, one of the department's directors is happy to see things continue for the time being.

Shirley Kemeys-Jones, the director of community justice and community policing, said the money received from Ottawa will go toward helping out communities.

"Mostly it'll help the communities because what it means is that they're going to continue to get more money to be able to deliver their programs at the local level."

The length of time is one thing that concerns Kemeys-Jones. She said funding has been more guaranteed in the past, but she remains optimistic.

"The renewals that we've had in the past have been for five years, we've had five year agreements. So the one year agreement is a bit of a departure but we're optimistic that we're going to get back on track with the longer terms agreements because those are the ones that make sense."

The NWT's share of the funding will be $315,000, the same amount as in each of the past three years.

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