WINNIPEG – A Winnipeg judge is recommending improved addiction supports after examining the overdose death of a man living in a tent who had faced barriers in accessing treatment.

The inquest heard evidence earlier this year about the 2021 death of Lee Earnshaw, a 42-year-old father of four and commercial fisherman from British Columbia who struggled with opioid addiction.

Earnshaw had tried to access publicly funded addiction treatment in Winnipeg in the months before he was found dead.

“It is abundantly clear the resources available to those requiring publicly funded addiction care are extremely limited when compared to the growing need. It is also clear the need for help comes at all times of the day or night,” provincial court Judge Tracey Lord wrote in a report released Friday.

“M

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