World champion skater and former cabinet minister Otto Jelinek dies at 86
Otto Jelinek, right, skates with his sister Maria. The pair represented Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics and won the world pairs figure skating championship in Prague in 1962.
Credit: Canadian Olympic Committee
Former world champion figure skater, federal cabinet minister and diplomat Otto Jelinek has died at the age of 86.
The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ottawa said Jelinek died Sept. 5 in Mississauga, Ontario.
Jelinek was born in Prague in 1940. His family fled Czechoslovakia following the communist takeover in 1948 and emigrated to Canada in 1951, where he continued skating with his younger sister, Maria.
The siblings became Canadian senior pairs champions in 1961 and 1962. Internationally, they won bronze at the world championships in 1957 and 1958, silver in 1960 and finished fourth at the 1960 Winter Olympics.
In 1962, Otto and Maria Jelinek returned to Prague and won the world pairs championship for Canada. Because their family had fled Czechoslovakia as political refugees, the International Skating Union said the siblings were granted visas and guarantees of safe passage before returning for the championships.
Otto and Maria Jelinek were inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame in 1994.
Jelinek later entered federal politics as a Progressive Conservative and was elected to Parliament for High Park—Humber Valley in 1972. He was re-elected five times.
He was appointed minister of state for fitness and amateur sport in 1984 and later held responsibility for multiculturalism. He became minister of supply and services in 1988 and served as minister of national revenue from 1989 to 1993. Jelinek was sworn into the Privy Council on Sept. 17, 1984.
In 2013, Jelinek was appointed Canada’s ambassador to the Czech Republic. He remained in the position until 2016.
Skate Canada said Jelinek had lived with Parkinson’s disease for nearly two decades.
The federal government lowered flags at all Government of Canada buildings and establishments in Oakville from Sept. 8 until sunset Sept. 11 in his honour. Canadian Heritage says flags at federal buildings in Oakville and at the Peace Tower in Ottawa will also be lowered from sunrise to sunset on the day of Jelinek’s funeral or memorial service. Date to be determined.
A historic mine opening near Rossland’s Kootenay Columbia Trail will be permanently sealed, with a three-week trail closure beginning Sept. 28 so crews can complete the work.