Former press secretary Arnold Minors has won an award for his race relations work in Toronto.

Mr Minors, public relations officer to former Premier Ewart Brown for about five months until this March, received the William P Hubbard Award at a ceremony at the city’s council chamber. Organisers paid tribute to his “lifetime of confronting systemic racism, leadership, advocacy and innovation in establishing community based services”.

They noted the Bermudian’s work in launching the Black/African Canadian Employees project in the City of Toronto and efforts helping blacks into first-time employment.

Mr Minors, who spent 45 years off the Island, was the first person of African heritage appointed to the Toronto Board of Health, where he created an equity sub-committee.

He is also a founding director of the African Canadian Legal Clinic and chaired Across Boundaries, a mental health centre for blacks, leading research on links between mental health and racism.

Other groups he was involved with included the Racism, Violence and Health Project.

Reflecting on his award, Mr Minors told The Royal Gazette: “I am proud to have made a contribution in Canada to a better understanding of racism; and to have created approaches that help to eradicate racism.

“I thank the City of Toronto for acknowledging my work. I accepted the award on behalf of all the people who do the work to eliminate racism. It is unfortunate that there is, still, much work to be done.”