Otto Jelinek

Otto John Jelinek, PC (Czech: Otakar Jelínek;[2] born May 20, 1940) is a businessman, former figure skater, and Canadian politician. Jelinek's family fled to Switzerland, then to Canada from Czechoslovakia in 1948, following the Communist coup d'état when communists nationalized his father's cork and aluminium caps factory. Jelinek was appointed as ambassador of Canada to the Czech Republic in August 2013.[3]

The Honourable

Otto Jelinek

PC
Jelinek in 2014
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Oakville—Milton
In office
1988–1993
Preceded byNew riding
Succeeded byBonnie Brown
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Halton
In office
1979–1988
Preceded byFrank Philbrook
Succeeded byRiding abolished
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for High Park—Humber Valley
In office
1972–1979
Preceded byNew riding
Succeeded byRiding abolished
Personal details
Born
Otakar Jelínek

(1940-05-20) May 20, 1940
Prague, Bohemia
Political partyProgressive Conservative
Figure skating career
Former partnerMaria Jelinek
Skating clubOakville Skating Club
Retired1962
Jelinek at the 1983 Progressive Conservative leadership convention[1]

Figure skating career
International
Event 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962
Winter Olympic Games4th
World Championships3rd3rd4th2nd1st
North American Championships2nd1st
National
Canadian Championships1st J.2nd2nd2nd2nd1st1st
  • J = Junior level

Jelinek competed as a pair skater with his sister, Maria. They are the 1962 World Champions, the 1961 North American national champions, and 1961-1962 Canadian national champions. They represented Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where they placed 4th.

After they won the World Championships in 1962, the Jelineks retired from competition, and toured professionally with Ice Capades.[4] In late 1963, Jelinek became engaged to Darlene Streich, an American ice dancer who went on to win the U.S. Championships in that discipline in 1964.[5]

The Jelineks were inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1962 and into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in 1994.

Political career

After retiring from professional skating, Jelinek started a business, Canadian Skate Industries, to manufacture figure and hockey skates for the mass market. He also had considerable investments in real estate.[6]

After a time in business, Otto Jelinek entered politics and was elected in the 1972 election to the House of Commons as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for High Park-Humber Valley in Metropolitan Toronto. He was re-elected in 1974. In 1979, he switched to the riding of Halton, where he ran and won in the 1979 federal election.

When the Tories formed government after the 1984 election, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed Jelinek to Cabinet as Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport, and the Minister responsible for Multiculturalism.

In 1988, he was named Minister of Supply and Services, and later, Minister of National Revenue. Jelinek was returned to Parliament in the 1988 federal election in Oakville—Milton left politics after Mulroney retired and did not run in the 1993 election. In 2013, he was appointed as ambassador of Canada to the Czech Republic.[3]

Business career

In 1994, he moved to the Czech Republic, and became chairman of the Board of Directors of Deloitte & Touche Central Europe, and chairman and managing partner of the firm in the Czech Republic, a position he held until 2006. In 2007, Jelinek assumed the role of chairman of Colliers International, CEE Region. Jelinek was also a chairman of the society Olympiad for Czech Republic, which lead the activities of Prague to become the host city of the 2020 Summer Olympics.

In 2011, Jelinek became a Managing Partner with Passport Energy, a Canadian oil and gas company, with responsibility for corporate and financial affairs in Europe.[7]

References
  1. Alisdair Roberts (1983), Otto Jelinek
  2. Otakar Jelínek 20.05.1940, Trade Register of the Czech Republic
  3. "The Canadian Press: Otto Jelinek named Canada's next ambassador to Czech Republic". www.macleans.ca.
  4. "People", Skating magazine, November 1962
  5. "News About Skaters", Skating magazine, Dec 1963
  6. "Evolution... From Skater to Businessman", Skating magazine, Jun 1971
  7. "Honourable Otto Jelinek joins Passport Energy as Managing Partner" (PDF). January 11, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2013.

Further reading
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