"occupying armies'' -- is involved in a major Bermuda conference, it emerged yesterday.

Mr. Minors, a Bermudian, will help to run the event which is aimed at solving youth employment problems on the Island.

The two-day "Open Space Technology'' conference is expected to feature employers, young Bermudians and politicians.

Mr. Minors made newspaper headlines in Canada and Bermuda recently as an outspoken member of the Metro Toronto Police Services Board.

The Berkeley Institute graduate, who left Bermuda for Canada in 1964, sparked an uproar when he compared Toronto's Police force to "occupying armies'' in trying to explain why the black community was not helping Police investigate a murder.

He previously provoked a row when he reportedly said the Holocaust was not a racist act while giving an anti-racism seminar to Crown attorneys. Mr. Minors denied making the latter remark.

But in 1994, two separate probes were launched into the alleged comments.

One of them was carried out by the Attorney General, which gave Mr. Minors a contract to teach race relations courses to Crown attorneys.

At the time, black groups and Share, a leading ethnic newspaper in Canada, condemned media treatment of Mr. Minors.

"The only reason for the continuous and vengeful attacks on Minors is that he dares to speak out against racism and discrimination perpetrated on segments of our community, in a way that makes some people very uncomfortable,'' wrote Arnold Auguste in Share.

Mr. Minors, who holds a Master of Business Administration from Queen's University, has run a consulting company in Toronto since 1983.

He earlier worked for the City of Toronto and Imperial Oil Ltd.

Young Bermudians interviewed about jobs: Page 5