Former NWT deputy minister Willard HagenSA国际影视传媒檚 court case is moving forward with a preliminary hearing next year.

Defence lawyer Peter Harte appeared in court Tuesday on behalf of Hagen who was charged in February with aggravated assault. 

The charges against Hagen have not been proven in court. 

The victim of the alleged assault was found with a stab wound in his abdomen downtown in the early hours of Feb. 28 of this year. After obtaining a search warrant, seized a knife, two winter jackets, and three cellphones from HagenSA国际影视传媒檚 Yellowknife residence.

The preliminary hearing is set to proceed on Jan. 13, 2021.

Hagen resigned from his post as the Department of Lands deputy minister last September following a racially charged Facebook comment attacking Frame Lake MLA Kevin OSA国际影视传媒橰eilly. He called OSA国际影视传媒橰eilly a SA国际影视传媒渞acist assholeSA国际影视传媒� [sic] and a SA国际影视传媒渨hite boy who thinks he has all the solutions because heSA国际影视传媒檚 a white boy.SA国际影视传媒�

Hagen is also a bush pilot and founder of Aklak Air. He is the former president of the Gwich'in Tribal Council, former director of the  M茅tis Development Corporation, and a former chair of the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board.