Cliff Jenkins was a city councillor in Toronto, Canada, for Ward 25, one of the two Don Valley West wards. He was defeated in the election held on October 25, 2010.
Born to a working class family in Hamilton, he attended McMaster University on a scholarship, and graduated with an undergraduate mathematics degree. He then went to the University of Toronto where he obtained a master's degree in mathematics and a bachelor's degree in education. He briefly worked as a high school math teacher before joining IBM Canada. He eventually rose to be a client executive at IBM.
He first rose to prominence as the president of the York Mills Ratepayers Association. He was elected to Toronto City Council in the 2003 municipal election after incumbent Joanne Flint was appointed to the Ontario Municipal Board. The close race was marked by an election night error. The city website announced that, with all the ballots in, Jenkins had lost to Jaye Robinson by 30 votes. However, only 90% of the votes had actually been counted, and by the time the full count was completed two hours later, Jenkins had pulled into the lead by 80 votes.
In office, was noted for concern for the city's financial state and was part of the opposition to the mayor's policies known as the Responsible Government Group. He did not support any mayoral candidate and his loss to Jaye Robinson was by a small margin. On election night, he gave a gracious tribute to Ms. Robinson after his defeat and she spoke of his excellent character and dedication.
| 2010 Toronto election, Ward 25[1] | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Jaye Robinson | 9,258 | 45.5 |
| Cliff Jenkins | 8,756 | 43.0 |
| Joanne Dickins | 1,968 | 9.7 |
| Tanya Hostler | 368 | 1.8 |
| Total | 20,350 | 100 |
Unofficial results as of October 26, 2010 03:55 am
| 2006 Toronto election, Ward 25[2] | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Cliff Jenkins | 7,954 | 58.3 |
| Tony Dickins | 2,788 | 20.4 |
| Robertson Boyle | 971 | 7.1 |
| Peter Kapsalis | 967 | 7.1 |
| John Blair | 964 | 7.1 |