Allen gives on-air mea culpa after meeting with Sikh and Muslim leaders

ROD MICKLEBURGH
Globe and Mail

VANCOUVER — After a private meeting with Sikh and Muslim community leaders, a kinder, gentler Bruce Allen tried yesterday to defuse an escalating furor over his outspoken remarks about immigrants in a recent radio commentary.

The controversy might have been a local tempest in a teapot, except for the fact that Mr. Allen is a member of the creative team planning the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics, prompting many to call for his removal from the high-profile position.

In a lengthy taped response to the growing criticism, Mr. Allen agreed that he should not have told new immigrants to Canada to "shut up and fit in."

"Too harsh? Okay. At worst, the wrong choice of words," he told listeners on CKNW, where his original self-proclaimed rant was first broadcast.

Mr. Allen, manager of music luminaries Michael Bublé and Bryan Adams, also acknowledged some mistakes in his first commentary, such as referring to religious headgear for young Sikhs as a handkerchief when it is, in fact, a form of a turban called a patka.

"If I offended anyone, I apologize," he said. He blamed much of the controversy on the media "who needed a story" and malcontents playing politics.

The previous evening, Mr. Allen met with about a dozen prominent Sikhs and two representatives of the Muslim community at a private gathering organized by high-flying entrepreneur and restaurateur David Siddo, who recently donated $1-million to former U.S. president Bill Clinton's Africa fund.

"He had to face some tough questions. He was put on the hot seat," said Barinder Sall, who attended the meeting. "But I think it was good of him to meet with us, and I think he learned a lot about Sikhs and Muslims."

Ross Street temple president Gurdip Singh Gill called it "a very good meeting. We explained everything to him, and that what he said was a very wrong thing to say about ours or any ethnic community."

After hearing Mr. Allen's revised commentary, the Canadian Organization of Sikh Students, which spearheaded the initial protests, said it will no longer pursue the matter. "We are glad that Mr. Allen came on air in a sincere fashion to clarify his earlier comments," the organization said.

Other critics, however, were not mollified. Liberal MP Raymond Chan, who has filed a complaint to the CRTC, said that Mr. Allen had not issued a real apology. "It is an attempt to blame the media and others for the trouble Mr. Allen got himself into when he should really be taking responsibility for himself."