GATINEAU — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre got muted support from construction workers and tradespeople after delivering a campaign-style speech, illustrating the uphill battle the aspiring prime minister still has in wooing the country’s blue-collar unions.

In fact, Poilievre only managed to garner some applause from the room when he spoke about tax credits for travel and ending subsidies for foreign workers — which paled in comparison to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s standing ovation minutes before.