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]
Otto Jelinek | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Jelinek in 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of National Revenue | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office January 30, 1989 – June 24, 1993 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Brian Mulroney | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Elmer MacKay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Garth Turner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament for Oakville—Milton (Halton; 1979–1988) (High Park—Humber Valley; 1972–1979) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office October 30, 1972 – October 25, 1993 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Riding established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Bonnie Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Otakar Jelínek May 20, 1940 Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Progressive Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Skating club | Oakville Skating Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 1962 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Figure skating career edit
| International | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | |
| Winter Olympic Games | 4th | ||||||||
| World Championships | 3rd | 3rd | 4th | 2nd | 1st | ||||
| North American Championships | 2nd | 1st | |||||||
| National | |||||||||
| Canadian Championships | 1st J. | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | ||
- 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 edit
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 edit
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 led 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 edit
- ^ Alisdair Roberts (1983), Otto Jelinek
- ^ Otakar Jelínek 20.05.1940, Trade Register of the Czech Republic
- ^ a b "The Canadian Press: Otto Jelinek named Canada's next ambassador to Czech Republic". www.macleans.ca.
- ^ "People", Skating magazine, November 1962
- ^ "News About Skaters", Skating magazine, Dec 1963
- ^ "Evolution... From Skater to Businessman", Skating magazine, Jun 1971
- ^ (PDF). January 11, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
Further reading edit
- "Canada's Sports Hall of Fame: Otto Jelinek". Archived from the original on April 7, 2013. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. . Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on February 20, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
- (PDF). Skate Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 22, 2010.
- (PDF). Skate Canada. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2009.
- (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 5, 2013.
External links edit
- Otto Jelinek – Parliament of Canada biography
- Otto Jelinek at Team Canada
- Otto Jelinek at Olympics.com