Last Thursday was moving day for tent city residents in Whitehorse, but they didn't have to go far.

Residents were served with a trespass notice from White Pass and Yukon Route railway last Tuesday.

The notice threatened to take further action if the occupiers didn't vacate their strip of property on the legislative lawn within the next 48 hours.

So, two days later, they moved their homes about three metres (10 feet) closer to the Yukon government administration building.

Michael Brandt, White Pass' senior vice-president, brought a lawyer to the site last Thursday morning to ensure the move would go smoothly. Brandt even used his own Dodge Ram pickup truck to move a trailer from his property onto YTG land.

He conceded the eviction had "been in the works for a while.

"We thought this would be over by the time winter set in,” Brandt continued. "Now the risks are actually higher with winter here, and we do have liability responsibilities.”

Brandt said that you can't say you want to evict someone, then not follow through.

He called White Pass "passive landlords.”

Asked if he felt like he was offloading the problem to someone else, Brandt's answer was clear.

"We are, absolutely,” he said. "We're in co-operation with (the) Yukon government, and that just makes it more consolidated for them to deal with, and they are dealing with it.”

Kevin Sweeney, who lives in the trailer with his girlfriend, said he knew the White Pass eviction would happen sooner or later. He called it "quite understandable.”

It's the government Sweeney has a beef with. He wanted to have a face-to-face meeting with Premier Darrell Pasloski last week, but said he hasn't been able to get any further than leaving his name and number with a receptionist.

His message, too, is clear: the government can't keep "milking” the people who support the town.

George Stewart, one of the few tenters left on the lawn, didn't seem bothered to have to move his tent to the other side of the lawn. It only took him about 30 seconds to drag it to the new spot, with the help of Sweeney.

Stewart said he didn't want to argue with White Pass because it is the company's land.

He has about five sleeping bags he uses to sleep, and even shuts his heater off at night.

"I'd be comfortable eating my breakfast naked in this thing,” he said.

Mark Bowers of the Occupy Whitehorse movement decided to move his camper out of tent city and into the adjacent government parking lot last Thursday.

He wanted to comply with White Pass' eviction and was worried about the safety of tent city, especially with the heaters in some of the nylon tents.

The Department of Health and Social Services did offer two tent city residents housing in the Chilkoot Trail Inn on Fourth Avenue, but both declined.