Pat King to face jury in Ottawa after venue change denied

Convoy protest organizer Pat King's unlikely bid to move his criminal trial out of Ottawa because of his notoriety failed on Thursday, and he will face a jury in the city he encouraged protesters to come to.

King is facing charges of mischief, counselling others to commit mischief, disobeying a court order and obstructing police for his role in the weeks-long protests in the city during the winter of 2022.

In a brief decision given during a virtual court appearance Thursday, Justice Charles Hackland said the law "will provide the needed safeguards against potential juror bias."

King's lawyer Natasha Calvinho had argued her client was too "notorious" and that King "was and still is more highly publicized than most other people involved in the Freedom Convoy."

But the Crown wanted the motion dismissed, and Calvinho recognized several times in court the request for a new venue was an "uphill battle."

King, an early, loud and prominent supporter of the protests who was regularly updating his thousands of social media followers during his time in Ottawa, is now scheduled to go to trial at the end of November. 

Other figures involved in the protests who sought a venue change have also been rejected. 

Former Ontario MPP Randy Hillier and convoy protest organizer James Bauder failed at having their matters moved.

Those requests were similarly denied in part because the court concluded there were enough procedural safeguards in place to avoid any prejudice against the accused.