New episodes of CBC Edmonton podcast Slumtown explore the world of Abdullah Shah
CBC
Months after the death of notorious inner-city landlord Abdullah Shah, his impact is still being felt in Edmonton's inner city.
People living in neighbourhoods like McCauley and Alberta Avenue say that disruption and disorder in the community continues to make life increasingly difficult.
Crime in those areas is on the rise, and the neighbourhoods have been plagued by arson.
It is those stories and Shah's death earlier this year that award-winning CBC Edmonton podcast Slumtown will explore in two new episodes.
The first episode, which drops today, can be found here or on your favourite podcast app.
"I know he used to speak of himself as a community-minded individual, but you know, when you look at the stuff on paper, it's truly not that way," says a neighbour of one of Shah's properties that burned down last year.
CBC News is not naming the resident because they fear retaliation.
"And … we would frequently witness ambulances showing up and police showing up and people died in there. One time a gun was pulled in the backyard and we were scared out of our wits, obviously.
"You know, all kinds of stuff happening, people getting evicted at the last second and all of their stuff is out on the boulevard and they have no place to go. And it's just super, super sad."
If you have a story to share, or a tip, text us using the form below, or you can email slumtown@cbc.ca.
If you haven't heard the first five episodes, check them out on your preferred podcast app or visit cbc.ca/slumtown.
We've heard dozens of stories like these since we released our first five episodes back in 2019. And residents of these neighbourhoods say the problems have only gotten worse over the past three years.
Three years ago, Slumtown began investigating communities in crisis.
People living in Edmonton's inner city neighbourhoods – McCauley, Alberta Avenue, Parkdale – were complaining of community pain stemming from problem properties.
Residents of an apartment building in St. John's are finding their footing again after a fire burned through the complex leaving most without anything in October.
A new program aimed at providing employment advice for workers facing layoffs at Algoma Steel has been launched in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont..
Even if Samuel Provo-Benoit doesn’t get the present he dearly wants in time for Christmas — a kidney and pancreas transplant to beat the Type 1 diabetes that’s steadily destroying his body — he has something else to celebrate.
A claim by New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt that petroleum refiners will be paying the $1 million per week cost of a gasoline price cut that her government orchestrated last weekend does not appear to be unfolding that way.
Sonia Bélanger, junior health minister and the minister responsible for senior and social services, is expected to be sworn in as early as Friday as Quebec's new health minister, according to sources at Radio-Canada.
A growing number of Manitoba's MRI machines now use artificial intelligence, with a plan to have more than half using the technology by spring.
A mobile unit the Saskatchewan government bought in 2002 for providing mammograms to Saskatchewan women will soon retire.
The Prince Edward Island government is rolling out the province’s first-ever policing standards, which officials say will make police services more consistent, transparent and better supported.
Residents in Niagara Falls, Ont., continue to wait for news on the future of Marineland’s property and dozens of animals, including up to 30 belugas and four dolphins — nearly two months after the federal government turned down the theme park's request to export the mammals.
Canadian travellers hoping for a new year without having to worry about a labour dispute may be out of luck, as 2026 will see most major airlines from this country facing off with unions across the bargaining table.
Food prices are soaring. Food prices keep climbing. Food prices are defying cooling inflation.
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Ontario legislation that mandated air conditioning in all resident rooms in long-term care (LTC) homes has saved dozens of lives, according to a new study.