中英对照：总理大人，请给加国零工仔们发点儿慈悲吧！

加国零工人士在这场瘟疫中失去了工作机会和收入，而联邦政府提供每月$2000元的CERB补贴对他们来说有如雪中送炭。但不幸的是，这一好运转瞬即逝。在为临时工和合同工人们提供了6个月的补贴之后，CERB宣布寿终正寝。当加国经济在瘟疫困境中苦苦挣扎之际，CERB的消失将使那些靠打零工养家糊口的劳苦大军再度陷入困境。渥京出的这一“狠招”表明，加国政府根本没把零工大军的遭遇和困境放在心上。

CERB is a boon for gig workers, providing them $2000 a month as the pandemic deprives their job opportunities and wipes out their source of income. However, the financial windfall won't last long. After six months of providing relief for temporary and contract workers, CERB will soon come to an end, rendering its recipients in financial uncertainties as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the economy. Ottawa's decision to end gig workers' lifelines means that this government has not taken gig workers' well-being as a priority.

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零工就业模式让雇主倍加青睐，给他们提供了极大方便，使雇主有效地控制商业规模，随意减少工资支出和就业规模。这一就业模式下，小时零工根本没有就业保障，他们拿低工资，没有福利，工作小时也不确 定。

The gig employment provides employers the convenience to control the size of business operations and the flexibility to reduce labor costs and cut their payroll at a whim. As a result, gig workers face precarious job status, taking low salaries, no benefits, and uncertain or inconsistent hours.

加拿大的零工经济在瘟疫泛滥之前的走势非常壮观。据加拿大统计局的数据显示，零工经济中受雇的工人从2015年的不到170万工人（占劳动力的5.5％）跃升至2016年的170万，占劳动力的8.2％。随着加国经济向数字时代的快速变迁，零工经济的增长迅猛，涌现出从Uber司机到AirB＆B租赁商到自由记者的零工阶层。根据2019年RIWI的在线零工全球指标报告，零工职业已成为19％的加拿大人的主要收入来源，并成为8％的加拿大人的收入之半。在COVID 19危机中，846万名CERB领取者中有一半是零工，其中大部分是族裔人士和新移民。

Gig economy had been thriving in Canada before the pandemic. According to StatsCan, workers employed in the gig economy jumped to 1.7 million, representing 8.2% of the workforce in 2016, from less than 1.7 million workers, or 5.5% of the workforce in 2015. The rapid economic transition to the digital age has fueled the gig economy's growth, churning out gig workers in droves – from Uber drivers to AirB&B renters to freelance journalists. According to the 2019 report from RIWI's global indicator of online-facilitated gig work that freelance work has become the primary source of income for 19% of Canadians and over half of their income for 8% of them. Amid COVID 19 crisis, half of 8.46 million CERB recipients are gig workers, with the immigrants and newcomers making the majority of them.



瘟疫给零工经济造成了沉重打击，让其不堪重负，基本上断了这一商业模式的生存后路。零工工人首当其冲地成了公司预算削减，节省支出，裁员甚至破产的最大牺牲品。许多Uber司机立即断了收入来源，而Delivery APP公司的大批倒闭也砸掉了食品外卖零工们的饭碗。当获得一份工作订单就像赢得彩票那么困难时，零工仔们不得不冒着被感染的危险去抢生意来源，即使成为病毒的俘虏也在所不辞。

The pandemic hits the gig economy particularly hard, dealing a severe blow to the industry and leaving the business model struggling to survive. Gig workers bear the full brunt of the company's budget cuts, spending slash, layoffs, and bankruptcy. Many Uber drivers watched their income come to a screeching halt while food delivery workers saw their jobs vanished as delivery app companies closed their operations. When getting a job  order is like winning a lottery, gig workers risk their lives to earn the business, leaving them vulnerable to contracting the virus.

据纽约市长，纽约的一名优步司机拉了长岛一名乘客后，就感染了新冠病毒住院。《纽约时报》报道，一名很怕感染新冠的意大利肉食商却认为其财务困境会比新冠病毒更可怕，因此铤而走险而继续上班。“没辙啊！”这名肉食商称：“我月底要交房租，要付账单啊！”

Mayor of New York City said that a 33-year-old Uber driver had been in hospital with COVID after picking up a fare from Long Island. According to the NY Times, a butcher in Italy scared of contracting the virus made the devil's bargain that health risk was less than the financial peril of not working. "This is my only income, and I have rent and bills to pay at the end of the month," said the butcher.  



CERB为加国零工阶层提供了主要经济来源以帮助他们度过财务危机，得以养家糊口。但对于大多数有资格领取EI人士来说，EI资助额远远少于CERB，很多人每周拿不到$200元。 联邦政府称在CERB结束后，无资格领取EI的零工阶层会拿到与类似EI的补贴。毫无疑问，他们的EI补贴额也会远远少于CERB。无疑，这会使他们再度陷入经济困境。

CERB has provided Canadian gig workers the critical support to survive the financial crisis, allowing them to pay bills and make ends meet. However, for most of the people eligible to roll to EI after CERB ends, they'll receive much less in EI benefits than CERB, with many receiving $200 less a week. Ottawa promised some EI like benefits for gig workers – who are not eligible for EI switchover under the current EI system. Undoubtedly, the support for gig workers would be much lower than CERB, leaving them struggling to keep their family above water.

在零工行业大批公司倒闭的今天，对所谓打零工者会因拿CERB而不去上班的担心是多余的。研究显示，只有拿到有保障的收入才能提高零工阶层的生活质量，且他们根本不会因这笔收入而放弃工作。

With gig companies dropping like flies, concerns that gig workers would be too reliant on government handout to return to work is groundless. Studies show that only a guaranteed annual income can significantly improve their living standard, and it won't cause them to flee jobs. 



当然，把6个月补贴就耗资$750亿元的CERB转换为永久性的基本收入计划的确标价不菲，这么大的开销恐怕会让联邦政府不寒而栗。但如果特鲁多能为稳固和WE慈善创始人的个人关系而白白浪费 $4300万，那他是否能对加国零工阶层发点儿慈悲善心，忍痛帮帮这些没有政府资助就根本活不下去的可怜的零工仔们呢！

It will make Ottawa cringe if CERB, which cost Ottawa $75 billion for six months, converted into permanent basic income. But if Trudeau can squander $43 million to heighten personal ties with WE Charity founders, he should show some mercy to gig workers, whose livelihood depends on it.