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Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals slipped to 27 per cent from 28 per cent and Mike Schreiner’s Greens were also down a percentage point to five per cent from six per cent.

Abacus president David Coletto said Tuesday it appears that the premier’s vocal opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods is continuing to pay dividends politically.

“Doug Ford has become one of the most visible leaders pushing back against Trump, and that’s resonating with Ontarians, especially older voters,” said Coletto.

“He’s tapping into the emotions people are feeling and it’s further endeared him to much of the province,” he said, 

“Ford isn’t just holding his coalition together, he’s expanding it.”

For the soon-to-be-published poll, Abacus surveyed 1,037 Ontarians Aug. 15-19 using online panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. While opt-in polls cannot be assigned a margin of error, for comparison purposes, a random sample of this size would have one of plus or minus 3.04 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Coletto said the provincial New Democrats are suffering from their connection to the federal NDP, which lost official party status in the House of Commons after a dismal showing in the April 28 election.

“The Ontario NDP continues to languish in the polls, largely because of a weak national brand and the party’s struggle to get attention or relevance in Ontario,” said the pollster.

“At 12 per cent, this is another new low for Marit Stiles’ party,” he said.

It comes as Ontario New Democrats get set to gather for a convention Sept. 19-21 in Niagara Falls, where members will vote on whether to hold a leadership election.

The NDP’s struggles are cold comfort for Crombie, who is facing a leadership review of her own at the Ontario Liberals’ annual general meeting in É«É«À² on Sept. 12-14.

“Bonnie Crombie is further from beating Ford than at any point since she became leader,” said Coletto.

“The problem Crombie faces isn’t personal, it’s structural. Any other Liberal leader would be up against a deeply popular premier and a government whose support is not only wide but growing.”

Ford’s Tories were re-elected Feb. 27 with 43 per cent of the popular vote to 30 per cent for Crombie’s Liberals, 18.5 per cent for Stiles’ NDP and four per cent for Schreiner’s Greens.

In terms of personal popularity, Ford was at 46 per cent positive, 32 per cent negative for a plus 14 per cent favourability rating with 19 per cent of respondents neutral and two per cent unsure.

Stiles was at 27 per cent positive, 27 per cent negative for a net zero rating with 29 per cent neutral and 17 per cent uncertain.

Similarly, Schreiner was at 23 per cent positive and 23 per cent negative for a zero ranking with 31 per cent neutral and 23 per cent unsure.

Crombie was at 30 per cent positive and 33 per cent negative for an overall minus three per cent with 25 per cent neutral and 13 per cent uncertain.

Asked for their preferred choice for premier, 48 per cent said Ford, 18 per cent said Crombie, 12 per cent said Stiles, four per cent said Schreiner and 18 per cent didn’t know.