participated in several leading business organizations. In Canada, he had been a director of Canadian Pacific Airlines and IBM Canada. He was a founding member of the Young Presidents Organization, chairman of the Commission on Multinational Enterprises of the International Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD and founding member of the Canada India Business Council. In 1969 the Bata Library was officially opened and after some reconstructions it was re-opened in 2018. Awards 1972 – Invested as a Companion of the Order of Canada 1991 – Awarded the Czech Republic's top decoration, the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk 2003 – Awarded the Retail Council of Canada's Lifetime Achievement Award See also Bata shoe factory (East Tilbury) Bata Shoe Museum Tomas Bata Memorial (Zlín) References External links Obituary in The Telegraph Bata family Bata Corporation 1914 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Canadian businesspeople Czechoslovak emigrants to Canada Companions of the Order of Canada People from Zlín Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Czechoslovak businesspeople The Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment officers Canadian Army personnel of World War II