"Rich and poor, they're scamming everyone.”

That is Helen Hollywood's explanation of why Yukon Party MLAs arrived at work this morning to find a dozen pieces of heavy machinery parked in front of the legislature and a tent city springing up on the lawn behind.

"When I heard about these guys protesting, I figured they could give us some back-up,” Helen said this morning, pointing to the huge trucks parked about 100 metres away from her tent. "Now they've got it coming from all sides.”

Helen was one of the people recently involved in a discussion at the Salvation Army about starting a tent city to both protest the lack of housing in Whitehorse, and also to simply establish a place to live.

She said when she heard the news about Norcope Construction protesting what they called a "behind closed doors contract” yesterday, she found a tent and came down to stage her own peaceful protest.

Helen and her friend Linda, who camped out at the legislature last night, have both been through the wringer of Whitehorse housing.

Helen's last place was a $1,000-a-month basement suite in Granger with no heat.

"It got pretty cold down there when it rained last week,” the 57-year-old said, noting she suffers from both osteoporosis and asthma, and is recovering from a bout of pneumonia. "We might as well have been sleeping rough. It's nicer camping outside than inside, so here I am.”

Linda, 61, has been staying at the Robert Service Campground, where she has lived the last two summers, spending her winters in hotels and temporary apartments.

"The last apartment I had, when I met the guy who was renting it, he told me, ‘I run half the rentals in Whitehorse, so if you mess up with me, you're done,'” she said this morning, pouring herself a cup of cowboy coffee off a small propane burner. "I let a friend stay over 'cause he had nowhere to go and they kicked me out.”

Helen has been in the Yukon for more than a decade and Linda came here from Atlin in 2010; both women have struggled to find stable, affordable housing.

They are not alone.

According to Kate Mechan, an anti-poverty advocate whose current job is focussed on helping the "hard to house” get a permanent roof over their heads, the housing situation is so bad that the Department of Health and Social Services is suggesting people get a tent.

"Social assistance is referring people to campgrounds,” she said today. "That shows how dire things are if government is looking at camping as the only option for people.”

The government "has dropped the ball,” she said.

"We've lost another building season, and the people who have the means to make all the decisions haven't stepped up to the plate yet.”

Mechan said she knows at least 60 people "who are rotating in and out of the shelter, camping – not at Robert Service – or who are very, very precariously housed, and that's just a list off the top of my head.”

Many people have been kicked out of the city's hotels and motels to make room for tourists, she said. Keeping a handle on who is going to lose their place next, or where people might be able to go is difficult, Mechan added.

"Calling around to the hotels, depending on the day or who you talk to, you get different answers about whether they are providing monthly rentals or accepting people on social assistance,” she said.

By ignoring the housing crisis, the government is burning up everyone's resources in the non-profit sector, and on the streets.

"I spend the majority of my time helping people find housing,” she said of her job. "It's time-consuming and exhausting. It's the most exhausting for the people actually out there looking for gear and tents and so on, but it's also exhausting for the support workers.”

A spokesperson from the department told the Star today that all requests for comment about the housing situation are being forwarded to Health Minister Glenn Hart, whose silence was noted by many of those who stopped by Helen's and Linda's tent this morning.

"Where is the minister?” Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell asked, as he and the NDP's Steve Cardiff sat in the camping chairs by Helen's tent. "He knows we're here; he can see us from his office.”

"This government has the money to address the housing crisis,” Cardiff said. "They have $17.6 million in housing money sitting in reserve, so where are they?”

He was referring to federal money earmarked in 2006 for housing but kept in the bank which Yukon Party MLA Jim Kenyon revealed during his recent failed leadership run.

In an interview with the Star last week, outgoing Premier Dennis Fentie said the money would be spent when a viable project was proposed.

It was Cardiff who first called attention to the women's protest yesterday afternoon, and asked security guards at the legislature to make sure they were not bothered during the night.

"It's good to know we have our own security,” Helen joked. "This might be the nicest place I've ever stayed.

"We were a little worried about our safety here last night, but when Steve came and told us that these guys were going to watch out for us, I could actually close my eyes and sleep.

"I won't stay on the river,” she said. "It's not safe for anyone.”

Housing is not just about a roof over one's head, Mechan pointed out.

"They have a right to security and they have a right to express their frustrations in feeling under supported,” she said.

So far, it seems the women will be allowed to remain on the legislature lawn.

"It's about finding the balance between public expression and operational activities,” government spokesperson Doris Wurfbuam said today when asked if the women would be kicked off the property.

"Currently neither protest (Helen's tent and Norcope's trucks) is impeding that and we deem them as peaceful, so we are onsite monitoring. At this point, everyone is behaving.”

Helen said she has no plans to leave anytime soon.

"As long as I have to,” she said when asked how long she plans to stay. "Someone has got to help us find a home, or at least figure out this Landlord and Tenant Act so we can have some stability when we find a place – not get kicked out whenever the landlord wants.”

By press time today, Hart still hadn't responded to interview requests, and no one at the Health and Social Service department could talk about how they plan to deal with the growing number of homeless in Whitehorse.

"For whatever reason, nobody in decision-making positions seems to care,” Mechan said. "That's how it feels. It's a crisis. We need options yesterday, not at the end of August when the summer's over and winter is coming quick.”

"I really just want a home,” Helen said. "And this is the nicest place I've been. Anyone is welcome to join us.”