The federal Conservatives have mounting concerns about the impact Premier Doug Ford will have on their electoral fortunes in Ontario this fall, party sources tell the Star.

“Doug Ford is the No. 1 issue at the doors (for candidates) here,” said one senior Conservative official, speaking confidentially in order to discuss internal deliberations.

“Let’s just say there are really strong feelings,” added the frustrated federal Tory insider, noting the premier is proving to be a lightning rod with many Ontarians.

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Another national party official expressed exasperation at the fact that some voters appear unaware that Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is not part of Ford’s administration and has nothing to do with its controversial moves, which polls suggest are unpopular.

“It’s a different level of government and we have different priorities,” said the second Tory.

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A Corbett Communications poll for the Star found 54 per cent of Ontarians are “less likely” to vote for Scheer’s candidates in the Oct. 21 federal election because of Ford’s policies.

At the same time, 31 per cent said the premier’s moves would not have an effect on their ballot this fall, while 15 per cent didn’t know.

More ominously for Scheer, 21 per cent of federal Conservative voters in the province said Ford is a negative factor in their ballot choice.

Using Maru/Blue’s Maru Voice Canada online panel, Corbett Communications surveyed 1,555 Ontario voters on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was an opt-in sample, but for comparison purposes a randomly selected sample of this size would have a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

On Thursday, Ford’s Progressive Conservative government announced the legislature was adjourning until Oct. 28, a week after the federal election.

The house had been scheduled to resume after the summer break on Sept. 9.

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Speaking to reporters on Friday at the Airport Hilton in Etobicoke to mark the first anniversary of his election, the premier insisted politics had no bearing on the decision to extend the recess.

“Right from the get go I said I’m not going to get involved in the federal election and we’re going to continue working hard for the people of Ontario. We have our plates full, each and every one of us,” he said.

Despite his fractious relations with Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — the province is spending $30 million fighting the federal carbon-pricing measures in court and with an advertising blitz — Ford stressed he does not want to be drawn into the fray.

“Well, that’s part of his tactics,” the premier said of Trudeau’s eagerness to tangle with Queen’s Park.

“You know we’re working hand in hand with all levels of government no matter if it’s a municipal or federal government.”

That’s at odds with his high-octane rhetoric last year, when polls suggested he was more popular.

“We’ve taken (former Liberal premier) Kathleen Wynne’s hand out of your pocket … and we’re going to take Justin Trudeau’s hand out of your pocket,” Ford thundered to 600 supporters at a rally in Etobicoke last October.

But in the wake of Finance Minister Vic Fedeli’s April 11 budget, which cut expenditures on some programs despite record overall spending, the provincial Tories’ poll numbers have been in a tailspin.

Six public opinion surveys in the past month appear to indicate Fedeli’s fiscal blueprint has not been well received.

At the same time, the Tories’ preoccupation with liberalizing the sale of beer and wine appears to have turned off some voters.

The government rammed through legislation Thursday to give it the power to unilaterally terminate a 10-year deal Wynne’s Liberals signed in 2015 with the Beer Store that expanded booze sales to hundreds of supermarkets.

According to the Corbett Communications survey, 52 per cent said the Tories should not breach the contract. The pollster’s question did not mention potential financial penalties for the government of up to $1 billion payable to the major breweries.

Only 27 per cent of respondents said the government should break the agreement and 21 per cent didn’t know.

Trudeau’s advisers admit they want to campaign against Ford because he is far better known than Scheer and is a polarizing figure who could motivate Liberals to vote.

“Please tell him to keep doing what he’s doing,” a senior federal Liberal insider said earlier this week of the premier.

Scheer, meanwhile, is focused on toppling Trudeau.

“During the upcoming election campaign, Mr. Scheer and Conservative candidates across the country will highlight his plan for how he will do that, while reminding Canadians that Justin Trudeau is not as advertised,” said his press secretary Daniel Schow.

“We are confident that Ontarians and all Canadians will see in Mr. Scheer a leader with his own vision,” said Schow, emphasizing that the federal Tories had nothing to do with Ford’s lengthy legislative recess.

“Nobody in the office of the leader of the official opposition was in touch with Premier Ford’s office about his decision to adjourn the legislature.”