The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has voted to remove suspended Grand Chief Arlen Dumas, at a special general assembly held in Winnipeg on Friday.
Dozens of Manitoba chiefs gathered at Assiniboia Downs for a non-confidence vote to officially remove Dumas from his position.
Dumas was suspended in March pending an investigation into allegations he engaged in workplace sexual harassment and sexually assaulted an employee, who at the time was anonymous. The employee filed a police report, but no charges have been laid.
In response to the allegations, the assembly ordered a third-party investigation, which found that Dumas engaged in workplace sexual harassment.
Shauna Fontaine later came forward publicly as the employee who filed the complaint, and expressed her disappointment in AMC and the police’s response to her report.
Earlier this week, Dumas announced he would be seeking trauma-based treatment to “begin healing not only from the events of the past five months but also a lifetime of trauma,” he said in a news release.
Fontaine’s allegations are not the first time Dumas has been accused of sexual misconduct. In 2019, a 22-year-old employee, Bethany Maytwayashing, alleged he sent her inappropriate text messages.
He denied the accusations, and later took a leave of absence to “heal.”
Dumas was first elected as AMC grand chief in 2017, and was re-elected last summer.
