AMC cuts ties with suspended grand chief Dumas

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This article was published 04/08/2022 (873 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs voted Friday to strip suspended grand chief Arlen Dumas of his title.

At a special general assembly at Assiniboia Downs in west Winnipeg, delegates for 62 member First Nations affirmed they had lost confidence in Dumas, who was re-elected to lead the political advocacy organization last summer but has since faced accusations of sexual assault and harassment.

“The vote was successful. Arlen Dumas is no longer the grand chief of AMC. We are going to be moving forward,” acting grand chief Cornell McLean told reporters at the conclusion of the meeting. The vote was 30-13 in favour of removal, with one blank ballot cast.

McLean apologized on behalf of the AMC to those who brought forward complaints against Dumas for alleged wrongdoing, including Bethany Maytwayashing and Shauna Fontaine.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done and we need healing,” McLean said.

During the meeting, which was closed to media and the public, the assembly heard from attorneys with Tapper Cuddy LLP who presented the executive summary of a third-party workplace investigation into Dumas’ conduct.

Fontaine, an executive staffer with the AMC, wrote a letter to the executive council of chiefs in mid-March, describing an unsafe work environment where she was subject to gender-based violence, including harassment and sexual misconduct.

She also noted a criminal complaint had been made to the Winnipeg police, alleging Dumas sexually assaulted her. Police have not laid charges.

The AMC placed Dumas on unpaid leave and hired the legal firm to conduct the investigation, the results of which were released at the end of June. It said investigators found the behaviour amounted to workplace sexual harassment.

According to the assembly’s constitution, Dumas was permitted the opportunity to address the gathered chiefs prior to the vote. However, McLean said, Dumas did not appear at the meeting, despite repeated invitations through his legal counsel.

Less than three days before the non-confidence vote, Dumas issued a statement after months of silence. He denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations were unfounded.

Dumas said he would seek trauma-based treatment to begin healing from “not only the events of the past five months, but also a lifetime of trauma” and would defend himself to the fullest extent of the law.

In a statement Friday, Fontaine said she is somewhat relieved by the outcome of the vote, but is mostly saddened and traumatized by the experience. She called on the AMC to put survivors of gender-based violence at the forefront of any future investigations.

“It is my hope and expectation that AMC will engage in a comprehensive review of all policies and procedures to ensure the protection of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited persons,” she said. “Today, I stand with all of the women who have courageously come forward to hold Arlen Dumas accountable. Our daughters and grand-daughters will not suffer as we have.”

Prior to the vote, chiefs and delegates were met by about a dozen protesters gathered at the main entrance to the Downs.

The group handed out a resolution calling for AMC to issue a public apology to women who have accused Dumas of misconduct; apologize for its handling of the allegations; and take steps to ensure a healing-focused, trauma-informed workplace by the end of the calendar year.

The group was not permitted to enter the Downs, with staff informing them they could instead gather at the entrance to the building in 29 C heat.

Sandra DeLaronde said she hoped a sympathetic chief would sponsor the resolution for the assembly’s consideration.

“At the (National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls), the grand chief had stated that Indigenous women and girls deserve a process that’s transparent, culturally appropriate and accountable to them. And we find that now when it comes to this particular grand chief in question, that the fairness and transparency doesn’t apply,” DeLaronde said.

The demanded public apology is an important step towards recognizing systems at the AMC that perpetuate harm, she added.

Mary Starr, of Sagkeeng First Nation, said by stripping Dumas of his title there is an opportunity for women to feel support in reporting their own experiences of abuse by men in leadership positions.

“This is a start. We need to start dealing with this. We can’t let this happen,” said Starr, adding the vote should have been made public. “We would like to know who is in support and who is not.”

Little Saskatchewan band councillor Darrell Shorting, who was in attendance as a delegate, said not enough information was provided to assembly members about the investigative techniques used by the legal firm and chiefs were not provided certainty they wouldn’t also “face this kind of embarrassment.”

“We were given in there only half information and not the full story of why the former grand chief was removed,” Shorting said, noting he is a former child abuse investigator and father to three daughters. “Anybody can be accused of sexual harassment, just the way you’re looking at someone. That’s the information a lot of chiefs were looking for, and I believe the 13 chiefs that voted not to remove him were not fully informed.”

McLean, who shook hands with members of the protest group after the meeting, said the investigation concluded in “plain black and white” sexual harassment had occurred in the workplace.

AMC is committed to stronger policies to prevent abuse by those in positions of power, he said, adding the assembly will consider the resolution proposed by DeLaronde and others at another date.

A byelection to elect a new grand chief will be held Oct. 19.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca