Good morning. This is Hanna Lee.

The head of Canada's largest federal public-sector union is contesting comments made by Pierre Poilievre on why he believes he lost his seat in the federal election. The Conservative leader blames what he calls an aggressive campaign, led by the public-sector unions, against him. It's not that simple, the union's national president says.

THE LATEST

• Prime Minister Mark Carney is meeting with First Nations today, part of a consultation series with Indigenous people over implementing Bill C-5. Here's the situation as of yesterday evening.
   
• Multiple contractors who helped build a taxpayer-supported electric vehicle battery plant in Ontario are alleging they're owed millions of dollars, according to court records.
   
• Anti-Trump protests are expected nationwide in the U.S. The day has been deemed "Good Trouble Lives On," in honour of civil rights leader John Lewis, who died on this day five years ago.
   
• A fire engulfed a newly opened shopping centre in eastern Iraq today, killing more than 60 people, including children, Iraqi officials say.

Did federal workers cost Poilievre his job? Top union boss says it's more about Donald Trump

(Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

This Alberta teen just played what could be their last competitive softball game due to new law

(Submitted by Eldyka Simpson)

Riley Simpson is an Alberta teenager who's been playing softball since they were nine years old. But the provincial government has recently enacted a law excluding athletes assigned male at birth from women's sports teams — leaving the 15-year-old unsure of where to go next. 

What's happening: They played what could be their last competitive softball game ever on June 24. Afterwards, they "just cried and cried and cried," said their mother, Eldyka Simpson. The Alberta government says it's working to expand co-ed divisions so that trans athletes can participate. But Riley and their mother doubt there are currently enough players to fill such a division right away. 

Why it matters: It shows how the law is already impacting young athletes. One advocate says the law drags children into a political debate they didn't ask to be part of. Simpson, Riley's mother, questions the need for such a ban on children's sports: "Do we need to have rules at college level? Sure. Do we need to have rules at Olympic level? Sure. Do we need to have rules at scholarship level? Sure," she said. "But we're talking about kids playing community sport here."

Trump's MAGA base is in crisis over the Epstein files. Could it cost Republicans the midterms?

(Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)

After teasing the Jeffrey Epstein files and supposed "client list" to his base for ages, the Trump administration is now backtracking, downplaying them or saying they don't exist. For a vocal chunk of his voter base, that could be a deal-breaker.

What's happening: Trump had long promised to release any documents related to Epstein, a financier and convicted pedophile who died in prison in 2019. Some of his supporters are now seeing the backtracking as a betrayal. It doesn't help that Trump cultivated a conspiracy-prone base by spreading some theories of his own — up to and including his claims that the 2020 U.S. election was rigged.

What's next: Observers say political losses are possible for the Republican Party in the midterms, set for November 2026. There's still some time until then, but it'll be a tight race, with some states likely to be decided by a few hundred or thousand votes. It appears Trump's current strategy is to call parts of his base stupid and weak — which is only fuelling more questions.

PICTURE THIS

Using the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Gemini North telescope in Hawaii, astronomers have captured the first detailed image of our third known cosmic interloper. The comet, 3I/ATLAS, is estimated to be about 20 kilometres in diameter, far larger than previous ones that have been spotted. It will be visible to large telescopes until September, after which it will be lost in the sun's glare. Read the full story here.

In case you missed it

• A man has been charged with hijacking one day after flights were grounded at Vancouver International Airport.
   
• Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to further crack down on cheap, foreign steel entering Canada by the end of this month.
   
• Pierre Poilievre wants the rules changed to prevent long ballot protests, as he potentially faces another one in the upcoming byelection in the riding of Battle River-Crowfoot.
   
• Nova Scotia RCMP are examining a pink blanket found in the search for the two missing Pictou County children.

IN LIGHTER NEWS

Chimps are sticking grass and sticks in their butts, seemingly as a fashion trend

(Submitted by Jake Brooker/Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust)

Fifteen years ago, Julie the chimpanzee stuck a blade of grass into her ear, starting a hot new craze among her cohort at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in Zambia. Now, a new group of chimps is resurrecting the trend — but inserting them into ... a different orifice. Researchers posit the chimps learned to put objects in their ears from their human caretakers. As for sticking them down there, one researcher says, "Like with all cultures, things change over time and they get refined and new quirks and new traditions pop up."