The CMEB was created in March 2002 in accordance with Chapter 5 of the Agreement Concerning a New Relationship between the Quebec Government and the Crees of Quebec.

Section 5.3 of the Agreement states:

This Board benefits as of the 2001-02 Financial Year from the available regular program funding of Québec for such purposes presently set at three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) per Financial Year. The main purposes of this Mineral Exploration Board will be to:

• -assist the Crees in accessing mineral exploration opportunities
• -facilitate the development of mineral exploration activities by Cree Enterprises
• -facilitate and encourage the access by the Crees and Cree Enterprises to regular Québec program funding and other encouragements for mineral exploration activities
• -act as an entry mechanism for offers of services by Crees and Cree Enterprises in the field of mineral exploration

An Agreement to Develop Mineral Resources

On March 22, 2002, the Cree Regional Authority, the Quebec Government, and the CMEB signed an additional and more detailed agreement (Agreement Concerning Mineral Resources Development in the James Bay Region). Section 6 of this agreement states the obligations of the CRA. They include the following:

[…] to cover CMEB administrative expenses from its operating budget [which] may include, among others, rent and office expenses, accounting and audit fees, the transportation and travel expenses of CRA representatives for meetings of the board of directors of CMEB.”

Accordingly, the CRA has fulfilled this obligation through the recipient of funding identified in the Agreement Concerning a New Relationship between the Quebec Government and the Crees of Quebec. This additional contribution by the CRA enables the CMEB to grant the total amount of the financial contribution provided by the Ministère des Ressources naturelles, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec to the programs identified in CMEB’s five-year work plan.