Family says injured landlord is recovering, but he’s paralyzed and can’t speak

By Susan McNeil

Despite his life-altering injuries, Jim Primeau’s will to recover remains strong, according to his sister Peggy Epp.

Primeau, a 57-year-old landlord from Prince Albert, has been in hospital since June 4 after he was shot in the throat while removing an evicted tenant’s belongings from the house he owned.

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“He’s made a lot of progress, considering what happened to him,” said Epp. “He’s still not able to speak. He’s got a tracheotomy and they’re working on him learning to re-breathe a new way, because he’s paralyzed from the chest down.”

Epp said her brother was not expected to live at first, and doctors had to revive him after his heart stopped.

“Of course you’re angry and upset because his whole life has changed forever and, you know, he’s got tons of depression and that, but he is also very determined to walk again,” she said.

Considering the state in which he entered the hospital, Epp said family members are being told he’s made a miraculous recovery.

While Primeau can’t speak, Epp said he can communicate by writing on a whiteboard and he is fully aware of what is going on around him.

The Prince Albert Police Service has not yet informed Epp of any charges against a suspect.

She said she believes it was someone other than the tenant herself who fired the bullet that almost killed her brother.

Epp said Primeau allowed the woman to move into his rental unit out of sympathy, but she preyed on his good nature by saying she had no place to live with her children. Despite what transpired, Epp said she still believes in kindness. She said creating a sense of community by talking to neighbours could eliminate some of the issues landlords face with problem tenants.

“People have to go back to helping one another… and know your neighbour and say ‘Hello.’ Kindness goes a long way. I brought groceries to this tenant. Her little boy asked me for groceries, and I brought groceries to her,” Epp said.

Epp and her two sisters – all in their 60s and 70s – have cleaned out the tenant’s belongings, painted the walls and repaired damage to Primeau’s rental house.

He owns two residences, but the smaller one that he lived in will not accommodate the wheelchair he will need, so they are planning to move him into the larger house. In order to do that, they started a GoFundMe campaign to help raise the money for things he will need like a wheelchair ramp. They are also having a pancake breakfast fundraiser this Saturday at the Twilight Motel.

Changes to tenancy laws

Epp said the province needs to make changes to its tenancy laws, as the current situation leaves landlords “very physically vulnerable” if they have to evict tenants with addictions or gang connections. In her brother’s case, Epp said it took three months to remove the tenant, who she said never paid rent at all despite numerous dealings with authorities.

“The police were called there. The fire department was called there, and I don’t know what it would have taken,” she said. “I think with all the things that were happening at the house, it should have been enough to do a 24-hour eviction, but it wasn’t.”

Epp said she thinks the current laws create situations where landlords are losing rental income because of bad tenants, or they have to spend money to fix damage. Epp said Primeau’s neighbour found himself in that position, and had to redo the interior of his rental house three times. In the end, he became so frustrated that he just boarded up the house.

The last time the province updated the tenancy laws was about 10 years ago, and Epp said the situation, especially with addicted tenants, has changed significantly since then.

Epp said to avoid these situations in the future, landlords could create a “bad tenant” list that could be shared.

“That would be some kind of a source of information that landlords could go to,” she said. “There is no protection there, you know.”

Epp said situations like the one her brother faced makes her question the law. She said she wishes they just removed the tenant on their own right from the start, instead of trying to go through the process with sheriffs, who assist with tenant removal.

“You know I could in there with somebody, physically remove her and take the assault charges for removing her and go to court and be out on probation,” she said.

“But at least we’d have the house back. It took so long and caused so much damage, and look what’s resulted to my brother.”