A4 -The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday July 23, 2003 Otto Jelinek has fond memories of Oakville Oakville's former Mem ber of Parliament Otto Jelinek retired from politics in 1993 after more than 20 years in office and moved back to the city of his birth Prague shortly afterwards where he is helping to rebuild the Czech Republic after years of communist RESEARCH STUDY PARTICIPANTS NEEDED Lh V on litn r rule. Freelance reporter Anna Hobbs recently met Jelinek in Prague and pro vided this exclusive inter view to the Oakville Beaver. O akville Beaver: In 1993, there was speculation that you would run for the leadership of the PC party. W hy didn't you? Otto Jelinek: Mulroney was stepping down. Everyone thought I would be joining the leadership race. In March, I held a press con High blood pressure, or hypertension, is the most common of all cardiovascular diseases. It is the leading cause of stroke and a major cause of heart attack. *4 *4 Are you at least 18 years old? Oo you have high blood pressure? Eligible study subjects wilt receive study-related medical exams, study medications, and laboratory tests at no cost. You may also be reimbursed for your time and travel expenses. For more information, please call: Dr. Ronnie Aronson 905-337-0040 moment and tell us about your family coming to Canada. O J: M y family escaped in 1948 when Czechoslovakia was nationalized and the Communists took everything away. We moved, first to Switzerland, and from there, we emigrated to Canada in 1949. O B : What was it like for your fami ly? O J: Those were rough years for my parents. They had five kids who quick ly learned to speak English. Our parents continued to speak Czech at home. As kids, we didn't want to be in Canada speaking a foreign language. If our par ents hadn't insisted, I wouldn't be -- C o b b le S lO N E m b e r S speaking Czech today and that would make a huge difference. "Masonry & Fireplace O B: How so? O J: Because for the Czechs here, I Design Specialists" am a Czech and that makes it much eas ier to do business. All types of m asonry O B : When did you first return? w ork & resto ratio n : · chimney's · stairs O J: In 1962. M y sister Maria and I · wa!kwa> s * Patios won the World Pairs Figure Skating · planters · tuck pointing Championship here in Prague. For the QUALITY BR AN D NA M ES G AS A ELECTRIC FIRE PLA CE S AVAILABLE .Czechs, this was far more than a sport ·You fivtfurin# M A llS T IC H E U H cAiP ing event. It was a major political state V e r m o n tC c u t i n g n VERMONT B u rb e c u r* ment. These were the darkest days of the iron curtain and this was the first Design & in stallatio n international event held here in 14 of gas, electric & years. The state had said that anyone conventional fireplaces: who left the country was doomed to · stone & brick facings · built-in failure. They didn't want to let us in, · wood surrounds cabinetry because we were an embarrassment to · cast stone mantels The International Skating Union 406 Speers RcL, Oakville (ucross from Rona Lansing> them. intervened and said, " if you ban quali Q A r Q Q 7 q a / > / « v is r r t h e s p k c w j s t s n> fied skaters, we w ill move the competii - i i l n i O s fj- ; n n : m f v e r e n ik ference and surprised them by announcing that, not only was 1 not running, I was quitting politics. O B : Why had you decid ed to quit? O J: That ties into Czechoslovakia. After the Velvet Revolution, when democracy was restored, Mulroney thought I was the right guy to lead trade mis sions here. Don't forget, I was bom here. O B : Back up for just a Former MP and Federal Cabinet Minister Otto Jelinek tion to Vienna." The government gave in and we became the darlings of the whole country because we were Czechs from freedom. O B : Was there a reason why you didn't compete after that? O J:M aria and I agreed that nothing could top this experience. To this day, because of that unique situation, any one over a certain age remembers, in detail, what happened in "62. I'm flab bergasted, that 41 years later, I can still go to a restaurant or get into a taxi and the waiter or the cab driver says. "You're the skater from Canada." You know we trained at the Oakville Figure Skating Club. O B :A decade later, you went on to carve out a second career in politics. O J: I worked very' hard to prove I was more than just a jock. I was first elected to the House of Commons in 1972 and represented Halton for 21 years. O B : You mentioned that when the iron curtain came down. Mulroney sent you here on trade missions. What impact did that have on you? O J:A n enormous impact. The mis sions were very well received. I took my wife, Leata. with me on some and we both felt a tremendous sense of excitement at what was happening. It was as if the country, like a big bear that had been asleep for 40 years, was com ing out of hibernation. There had been no freedom of the press, no freedom of speech, no freedom of movement. People had lost their hopes and dreams. 1 had enjoyed politics but I wanted to participate in this transformation. I did n't know how. but one day I said to Leata. "let's move to Prague and be pan of this adventure for two years." Our boys were five and ten and the time. We rented our house, put our furniture in storage, moved here and I formed my own little company. Jelinek International. My goal was to help large foreign companies invest here. OB:You came for two years. That was ten years ago and you are still here. O J: I wouldn't have stayed if my family hadn't liked it. In fact, just before the two years were up. we had a family meeting that lasted about 30 sec onds. "There's no way we're leaving," they said. M y wife loves it here. O B : What does your work here involve? O J: In 1996. I was asked to join Deloitte & Touche as their first Chairman in the Czech Republic. This allowed me to continue the work I was doing and have a big company behind me. In January this year, the company appointed me Chairman of the Central Europe Division, which includes 16 countries and over 2.000 professional employees O B : What is it about the job that gives you your kicks? O J:I am not naive enough or arro gant enough to think that I am con tributing enormously to the change. What I do through Deloitte & Touche is a very small contribution towards the restructuring of a country that was held back by Communism for so long. This is the city and country of my birth. It's an exciting time to be in Prague. Being, even a small part of the change, gives me enormous satisfaction. O B : It must have been difficult for Leata to learn the language. What is it that she finds so appealing? O J: She has made friends and she falls in with the excitement of the changes that are happening. We enjoy both worlds here - what we were used to in our home in Oakville and what is new in Central Europe. It's not just that Prague is beautiful, but we're very close to everything. London is an hour and a half away: we can drive to Austria to ski in five hours, or to the Mediterranean in six or seven. The countryside is beautiful. The rolling hills remind us of Ontario. O B : What do you miss most about Oakville? O J: Our sons. This year, they are at school and university in Ontario. I miss our friends and the lake. There was nothing better than coming from the craziness of Ottawa on Friday evenings, to be able to walk out across our peaceful back yard, with a cigar and a beer and just sit and look at the lake and enjoy the peace and solitude. We have a lovely, modem home here. It's in the country, just five minutes from the city. We're surrounded by trees and deer come down to graze by our pond. And I still do the beer and cigar bit. 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