Allen’s Olympic Outcry

Canadian manager Bruce Allen’s attempts to calm the fire over recent comments he made on a Vancouver radio program may have satisfied some people, but one group is continuing its efforts to remove him from the organizing committee for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Henry Yu, a university instructor and co-chair of the group Anniversary of Change, a multicultural committee that confronts immigrant issues, has called for Allen’s removal from his duties in organizing the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, according to the Vancouver Sun.

"We stand up in support of the South Asian community who were directly impugned by Mr. Allen," Yu told the Sun.

When Allen called the Sikh religious head wear a "handkerchief" and said, "If you choose to come to a place like Canada, then shut up and fit in" during his September 13th "Reality Check" radio program on immigration, the complaints rolled in.

But Allen – manager of Anne Murray, Bryan Adams, Martina McBride and Michael Bublé – later acknowledged making some mistakes.

"If I offended anyone, I apologize," he said during an on-air follow-up segment. Allen also reportedly met with Sikh and Muslim leaders in the community to discuss the issue the same day.

Yu said the comments Allen made are not befitting of an Olympic representative, the Sun reported, especially in a city as culturally and ethnically diverse as Vancouver.

The Olympic committee continues to back Allen.

Spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade said in a statement that his work for the group "is and will remain entirely separate and distinct from other work he does including his public commentary and opinions on the radio."