The Federal Crown brought an application to change the venue of the respondents' substantive application, which sought to attack a search warrant executed primarily in North Bay.
The Crown argued the matter should be heard in Ottawa, where the warrants were authorized.
The court found that while the issuance of a search warrant constitutes a pre-charge criminal proceeding, creating a presumption for the originating jurisdiction, the balance of convenience strongly favoured North Bay.
The respondents resided and operated businesses in North Bay, and the majority of the searched locations were there.
The Crown's application for a change of venue was dismissed.
