EPISODE 5 - The Questions

With the murder of controversial landlord Abdullah Shah, Edmonton’s inner city residents are left wondering what’s next for their community. Will governments step up to deal with problem properties and the people who benefit off of them? Or will more problem landlords step in to fill the gap left by Shah (aka Carmen Pervez)?

3 years after the first five episodes of Slumtown, notorious landlord Abdullah Shah is shot to death on his own driveway. Host Elizabeth Hames looks at who wanted him dead and why.

People living in Edmonton’s inner-city communities are clashing with problem properties — needles on their lawns, people overdosing in their yards, fights in the alleys. Residents fear for their safety and calls to authorities seem to fall on deaf ears.

Host Elizabeth Hames investigates who owns the city’s problem properties … and finds there are dozens of them linked to one person. Meet the man who’s so powerful, neighbours are afraid to say his name out loud This episode has been updated to better reflect the reports of raw sewage in one of the properties discussed. Tenants and a health inspector reported raw sewage in the house. However, a plumber hired by the landlords found no evidence of raw sewage. Alberta Health Services accepted the plumber's report and didn't question his findings.

Why would anyone live in a house condemned by health authorities, plagued by vermin and mould and where crime and drug use is prolific? For some, it’s their only option. Go inside the houses and meet the people who live — and sometimes die — in places like these. This episode has been updated to more accurately reflect court decisions surrounding Alberta Health Services and some inner-city properties in Edmonton. Clarifying, that days after "Donna" moved out of the house, health authorities ordered owners not to allow anyone to live there until repairs were made.

Frustrated by a lack of action from authorities, residents take the fight against problem properties into their own hands — buying lots with their retirement savings to push bad landlords out and bring families in. This episode has been updated to more accurately reflect court decisions surrounding Alberta Health Services and some inner-city properties in Edmonton. Clarifying the home "Donna" lived in was ordered to undergo repairs by health authorities.

Months of investigating has raised more questions than answers. What’s going on in a recent sale — potentially worth $6 million — of problem properties in Edmonton’s inner city? Host Elizabeth Hames looks at the final questions still left unanswered.

A battle is brewing in Edmonton's inner city. Neighbours are terrified. Fights, overdoses and crime spill out from problem houses, many owned by a small group of people connected by one notorious landlord. CBC’s Elizabeth Hames investigates.