'Tent city' still providing refuge for Whitehorse homeless: Canada

As workers suck up leaves covering the Yukon government building lawn and drain the sprinkler system before freeze-up, residents of Whitehorse's first 'tent city' are doing their best to fend off the bitter autumn winds.

The cluster of tents, some swaddled in tarps for extra protection, sprouted up right below the premier's office in June and slowly grew over the summer.

This week a travel trailer joined the collection.

Forty-seven-year-old Piroska Szucs and her boyfriend bought the trailer to park at tent city because they had nowhere else to go. Szucs works at a local restaurant while her boyfriend has a job at the remote Cantung mine, just across the Yukon border in the Northwest Territories.

Originally from Hungary, Szucs lived in London, Ont. before coming to the Yukon. She was shocked by the lack of affordable housing Whitehorse and the extent of homelessness.

She's not sure how long they'll camp beside the government building, but they bought a generator for the trailer so they'll have heat and power as the temperatures drop.

The encampment is a glaring example of the Yukon's housing crisis, an issue that's front and centre for all political parties during the territorial election campaign. more