Kevin Douglas Addison, a former employee at the mill, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder with a firearm.
The hearing is to establish whether there is sufficient evidence for a trial. A mandatory publication ban means that evidence presented cannot be published.
Mill employees Michael Lunn and Fred McEachern were killed in the April 30 incident.
Tony Sudar, the mill’s vice-president of manufacturing, was shot in the face. He was discharged from hospital soon after the incident. Another man, Earl Kelly, was also shot and suffered more serious injuries.
Addison was present for the hearing Tuesday.
Also present were family members of some of the shooting victims, including Lunn’s widow, Marlene. She said her family has been waiting 10 months for proceedings to get started.
“It is a slow burn,” she said outside the courthouse. “But you know, it’s the justice system, it’s what we have to do and do the best we can.”
To honour Michael Lunn, who always wore a red shirt to work, family and friends started the Red Shirt Foundation, a non-profit aimed at raising awareness of workplace violence. That has provided a focus for those affected by the shooting, “but it has been difficult,” Marlene Lunn said.
Addison’s lawyer, John Gustavson, called for patience from those watching the case.
“There’s a lot of information to come and I think everybody’s going to have to wait until we have all the facts,” he said.
The preliminary hearing is scheduled to continue until Friday.
