Jim Primeau has made some remarkable recovery but has a long way to go. (GoFundMe)

By Susan McNeil

Assault on landlord

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

Jul 3, 2025 | 4:32 PM

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.

“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.”

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

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

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

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

Primeau allowed the woman to move into his rental unit out of sympathy and Epp said she preyed on his good nature by saying she had no place to live with her children. Despite what transpired, Epp still believes in kindness. She also said that 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 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 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 get 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.

Details of the fundraiser pancake breakfast on Saturday.

Changes to the tenancy laws

Epp said the province needs to make changes to the tenancy laws as the current situation leaves landlords ‘very physically vulnerable’ if they have to evict addicted or gang-connected tenants. In her brother’s case, 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. 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.”

In Epp’s opinion, the current laws create situations where landlords are losing rental income because of bad tenants or have to spend money to fix rental damages and it just doesn’t make sense to rent. Primeau’s neighbour found himself in that position; he had to redo the interior of his rental house three times. In the end, he became so frustrated he just boarded up the house.

“At what point do you say, ‘You know what? I don’t even want to own a house anymore because good renters are hard to find.”

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

READ MORE: Landlord Association responds to shooting

One idea the sisters had to avoid these situations in the future is for landlords to create a ‘bad tenant’ list that could be shared.

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

Epp said situation’s like the one her brother faced makes one question the law. In fact, 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.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social