Premier Ranj Pillai and NDP MLA Lane Tredger continued their battle over people sleeping in tents on Tuesday in the legislature.

“The premier seemed very hung up on exactly how many people are tenting versus sleeping at the emergency shelter or in their cars or couch-surfing,” Tredger said of Monday’s exchanges.

“I can tell him that all of those people desperately need housing, and they will be excited to hear that he can find dozens of them housing in the next week,” they said. “How many of the 221 people on Safe at Home’s list can expect to be offered housing in the next week?”

Pillai replied, “What happened (Monday) was that the member opposite stood up and every single person in the House heard a massive embellishment. It wasn’t factual. They (Tredger) said there were dozens of people living in tents. It was done to shame our team that is working on this file,” the premier added.

“I reached out to a number of NGOs afterward, and they said that it wasn’t factual.”

Pillai added he would “be out (Tuesday) night meeting with folks at a little after six o’clock.

“This is an incredible spin. The member opposite knows full-well that they are digging themselves out of a massive hole after the comments that were made.”

Tredger responded, “I would rather work to house Yukoners who are homeless than argue over semantics.

“Since (Monday), when the premier promised to house all the people tenting, our office has been getting messages from people who want to know how they can get that help. Can the premier tell people who are tenting what housing is available and how they can get it?”

A week earlier, Pillai said, he and Grand Chief Peter Johnston of the Council of Yukon First Nations went out with the Moccasin Mobile, “going from individual to individual who needs support. We were all over downtown Whitehorse.

“Every one of us in here who are elected heard that embellishment (Monday), and now it’s a double-down, or whatever it is ... today, we’re seeing a real digging of the hole.”

Tredger noted the spring 2023 point-in-time count of homelessness in the Yukon found 197 people were experiencing homelessness in Whitehorse in one night.

Seventy-five of them were “absolutely” homeless, meaning they were either staying at the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter, sleeping in tents or in vehicle, or had no idea where to go.

“That’s a 43 per cent increase in absolute homelessness over the previous count in 2021,” Tredger said.

“Today, the premier seems non-committal on his promise that he can help all of them within a week. Can he house dozens of people within a week?”

Pillai said he will “ensure that our team at Yukon Housing works with and supports the NGOs that work on the by-name list. We will continue to invest immensely in affordable housing.”

Tredger later told reporters, “We know there are dozens of people who are absolutely homeless right now in Whitehorse. So, sleeping at the emergency shelter, sleeping in tents, sleeping in cars, we know there’s over 200 people who are either absolutely homeless or very precariously housed, so maybe living in a hotel.

“ …. I’m really worried he (Pillai) has given them false hope ... he was pretty non-committal about whether he could actually come up with dozens of homes for people.”