Hello, it's Tamara Baluja.

A "bomb cyclone" with hurricane-level wind gusts is lashing the B.C. coast.

Plus, we bring you news about an alleged potato cartel that could be responsible for price-fixing the cost of fries, hash browns and tater tots. 

Let's get into it.

Highways closed, thousands without power as 'bomb cyclone' hits B.C. coast

Waves crash along the Ogden Point Breakwater near Victoria during a similar 'weather bomb' in October 2021. (Ken Mizokoshi/CBC)

Where did COVID-19 originate? We now have some answers

A woman walks past the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, in January 2020. (Getty Images)

The latest developments: A team of scientists, including one from Saskatoon, say they have strong evidence the COVID-19 virus jumped from infected animals to humans in a market in Wuhan, China, and didn't originate with a lab leak. 

The methodology: Scientists analyzed hundreds of genetic samples, including of some animals which were in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. All of the data analyzed — the early cases and proximity to the market, the location of animals, and the two independent spillovers into the human population, occurring weeks apart in late 2019 — points to COVID-19 originating at the market. 

Why these scientists don't think a lab was the likely source: For that to have happened, University of Saskatchewan researcher Angie Rasmussen said, someone would have had to get infected at the lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and then go to the market without infecting anybody else. The same exact thing would have had to happen again with the second lineage of the virus.

Why it matters? There have been two main theories about the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic — the virus jumped from an infected animal to a human and that the virus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Many experts say promoting the idea of a leak was done to create a broader distrust in scientific institutions.

Poilievre's office maintains tight control over what Conservative MPs say and do

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre rises during Question Period on Nov. 8, 2023, in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

The man who promised during his leadership run to make Canada "the freest country in the world" maintains tight control over the actions of his caucus members.

After two years of Pierre Poilievre as their leader, many Conservative MPs say they are much less free now than they were before his arrival.

How do we know this? My colleague Christian Noel spoke with more than a dozen elected representatives, employees and members of the Conservative Party of Canada from three different provinces. The sources were granted anonymity so they could express themselves freely. All reported a tightening of caucus discipline under Poilievre's leadership.

Here's some of what the sources say: 

• "Sometimes the leader listens to suggestions. But often, his mind is already made up. It's often a one-way conversation."
• "Everybody is being watched. What we say, what we do, who we talk to. We're told not to fraternize with MPs from the other parties. And that's not normal."
• "He's not a dictator ... He has a vision, he knows where he's going and how to get there."

Alleged 'potato cartel' accused of conspiring to raise price of frozen fries, tater tots across U.S.

Cavendish- and McCain-branded potato products are pictured at a grocery store in Vancouver. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

A potato cartel? That's how a proposed class action filed this week in U.S. District Court described the four leading potato companies — including two Canadian ones — for sharing detailed, sensitive inside information with each other as part of an alleged conspiracy to raise the price of their goods and make more money off consumers. The Canadian companies in question? McCain Foods and Cavendish Farms.

Why it matters? Companies in Canada and the United States are supposed to settle on a price for their products on their own. When they co-ordinate with each other and set an agreed rate, it's called price-fixing — which generally makes the price higher for the consumer, since the main players are agreeing not to compete with lower prices. 

The bigger picture: The potato allegations south of the border come just over a year after Toronto-based Canada Bread was fined $50 million for its role in a widespread scheme to fix the price of packaged bread for at least 14 years. 

In case you missed it

• A B.C. woman is fighting to reclaim her rental suite at a motel after being locked out by her landlord in August, something that has continued despite a court order and a ruling from the Residential Tenancy Branch in her favour. Megan Wood's case exposes gaps in tenancy regulations and enforcement in B.C. that leave vulnerable tenants without adequate protection, according to a lawyer advocating for her. 
• A northern Alberta oilsands site has been ordered to shut down following a string of alleged infractions dating back more than two years. The order from the Alberta Energy Regulator requires Sunshine Oilsands Ltd. to post a security deposit of more than $6.1 million, which represents 100 per cent of the company's estimated inactive liability.
• Pope Francis called for an investigation into whether Israel's ground offensive in Gaza constitutes a genocide, sparking intense debate about the war — and also raising questions about the tangible impact that papal statements have on Catholics and global politics. 

And, in today's good news of the day...

Women's hockey returns for its 2nd season

Minnesota Frost players celebrate winning the Walter Cup championship last season. (Kelly Hagenson/PWHL)

All six Professional Women's Hockey League teams will hit the ice for pre-season action this week in either Toronto or Montreal, as the league prepares to open its second season at the end of the month.

What's new: The league has also brought in several new rules this time around, including a mandatory major penalty and game misconduct for all illegal checks to the head and the "no escape rule," which will see players forced to stay on the ice until after the faceoff when their team takes a penalty.

Related: 

• Twenty-six years ago in Nagano when women’s hockey debuted as an official Olympic sport, some media coverage focused more on the sexual orientation of the players than the competition. But relationships among athletes are slowly becoming a normality in women’s pro sports. Watch my colleague Devin Heroux's heartwarming story of how newlywed PWHL stars Laura Stacey and Marie-Philip Poulin navigate the complications of marriage and career.
• From kiss cams to advertising, Mel Brown says they haven't always felt welcome in the hockey community despite being a lifelong fan. That's why the PWHL is a gift for queer hockey fans like them, they write in their First Person column.