Grand Chief Arlen Dumas facing calls to step down amid suspension over sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations

Arlen Dumas is facing calls to step down as Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) amid an allegation of sexual harassment and sexual assault brought forward against him by a senior AMC staff member.

In a letter dated Mar. 14 that was sent to the AMC’s executive council of chiefs and women’s council, the senior staff member called on the organization to act urgently after raising concerns about workplace culture and harassment “based on my personal experiences of harassment, sexual harassment and sexualized violence by Grand Chief Dumas.”

CTV News isn’t identifying the staff member, who wants to remain anonymous because she said in the letter she’s a victim of sexual assault.

Dumas has since been suspended by the AMC pending a human resources investigation into the complaint. On Monday afternoon, the AMC's executive council of chiefs appointed Shamattawa First Nation's Chief Eric Redhead as the Acting Grand Chief.

The staff member also filed a complaint with the Winnipeg Police Service which confirmed Friday an incident number has been generated but police said Monday they wouldn’t be commenting any further on the matter.

Dumas has not been charged and none of the allegations have been tested in court.

On Monday morning, a group of around 50 people gathered outside the AMC building on Portage Ave. for a rally organized by Indigenous grandmothers and women in support of victims of gender-based violence.

At the rally, community members called on Dumas to resign.

“I think he needs to step down,” said Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, chair of the National Family and Survivors Circle which formed in response to the 231 Calls for Justice stemming from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous and Girls.

“He was in a position of trust. How can you stand in a leadership role when there’s continuous allegations and women coming forward?”

Two women previously came forward with concerns about Dumas’s conduct in 2019. One of the women, Bethany Maytwayashing, alleged she received unwanted messages from Dumas after they met at a restaurant in 2018.

A second woman, Renée Yetman, said she met Dumas at an event in northern Manitoba that led to a consensual sexual encounter.

Yetman, who attended and spoke at Monday’s rally, said she was under the impression Dumas wanted to pursue a relationship with her but never heard from him for a while afterward.

She spoke out because she feels like Dumas used his leadership position in an inappropriate way.

“I trusted him because he was a leader,” Yetman said.

Dumas took a leave of absence when the initial allegations came out in 2019 but denied any wrongdoing.

Dumas was first elected as grand chief in 2017 and was re-elected in July 2021.

The AMC’s executive council of chiefs ordered the AMC’S personnel and finance committee to hire human resource lawyers to investigate the latest complaint against Dumas in a way that is “impartial, neutral and objective.”