中英对照：加国援救金让华裔打工仔吃了颗定心丸

（大中报/096.ca特稿）：加拿大新移民在其移民国度经历着前所未有的经济灾难，眼睁睁地看着肆虐的新冠病毒导致各类商业停摆，大量人员失业。但就在加国经济陷入水深火热之际，联邦政府大手笔出资救火于危难，投以数百亿资金解救陷于困境之中人士。对许多新移民来说，目睹政府援助金无偿流向在新冠灾难中挣扎人士的账户是前所未有的经历，让他们眼界大开。

Newcomers from China are weathering an unprecedented economic storm in their adopted country, as COVID 19 has wreaked havoc on the Canadian economy, grounding business operations and causing massive layoffs. However, as the storm rages through the economy, the government came to the rescue, rolling out stunning support programs in tens of billions to help struggling individuals through the financial turmoil. Watching the government fund flow into desperate workers is an eye-opening experience for Chinese immigrants.

今天你也许关心的话题：

美国和加拿大都无力承担禁止移民带来的风险
加拿大房地产市场将受到COVID-19的重创
日本北海道疫情卷土重来给人的警戒

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许多来自中国的新移民习惯了没有任何社会保障系统的日子。从历史上看，每当灾难临在这片贫瘠的土地，市民只有靠自身积蓄或亲朋好友的帮助渡过难关，而政府援助前所未有，闻所未闻。当干旱，水灾让农民颗粒无收时，老百姓也只得任凭饥荒肆虐，饥寒交迫，饿殍遍野。60年代的三年饥荒中，4500万人丧生，而这场人为灾难的罪魁祸首中国政府却矢口否认饥荒的发生，更谈不上什么向老百姓提供援助了。

Many immigrants from China get used to living in a system without social security support. Historically, when the economic crisis hit the impoverished nation, government support rarely came in, and citizens relied on savings and the help from their extended family to get by. Farmers struggled alone in natural disasters such as floods and drought, as famines killed people savagely showing no mercy. The shocking great famine in the 1960s saw 45 millions of lives perish, while the government --the culprit for the human-made disaster, denied it had ever happened, let alone to provide any support.

现代中国的经济改革打破了铁饭碗，也随之摧毁了公有制系统下的社会保障体系。新经济模式下造就了一支无就业保障，依靠雇主而非政府提供的失业保险的劳动力大军。那些规定雇主之职责的法律缺乏力度，且执法不严，使大多数失业雇员在丢掉饭碗后根本拿不到失业保险。新冠瘟疫后，中国政府准许企业公司免付雇员们的社会保障金，更是把这支无保障的就业大军推向绝境和贫困的深渊。

The economic reform in modern China has broken up the state-run economy and also destroyed the social safety net associated with it. Meanwhile, it has created a precarious workforce that depends on employers, rather than the state, for unemployment insurance.  The laws that stipulate employers’ responsibilities lack teeth, leaving a majority of workers denied the benefits.  Marginalized employees found themselves in devastating hardship during COVID 19 pandemic, after Beijing allowed companies to waive social security payments, including unemployment and work injury funds.



因此，那些被遣返回穷乡僻壤家乡的农民工们更是一贫如洗，而遭解雇的城市职工却负债累累。49岁的保姆刘世华自从1月中旬以来就被困于其贫困的村庄，领不到分毫收入或失业保障金，而建筑工人赵先生自从2月以来就失去了工资。他向AFP News表示：“我得靠父母的资助支付房租，靠打零工糊口。我一直处于焦虑状态。”

As a result, many laid-off migrant workers returning to impoverished rural areas slipped into poverty, while the lives of urban employees fell into debt traps. Liu Shihua, a 49 year-old domestic worker has been stranded in her village since mid-January with no income or unemployment benefits, and Mr. Zhao, a worker in construction management has lost his salaries since Feb. "I rely on my parents to pay for rent and take odd jobs to make ends meet.  I feel constant anxiety," he told AFP News.

如果刘世华和赵先生身居同是遭疫情冲击的加国，那么在加国政府的关怀和保护下，他们的处境会大不相同。与他们社会地位等同的加拿大合同工，低收入员工和就业于不稳定行业的打工族都获得了加国政府的慷慨救助。渥太华近期宣布的$520亿的援助基金向困境之中的工人提供每月$2000元的援助金，旨在帮助他们支付房租和购买食品。之后，联邦政府又多次降低领取标准，旨在囊括所有遭瘟疫影响之人士。在华埠打零工的Lynda在谈及政府援助金时感激涕零地说道：“我从来没这么轻松过，政府援助实在是太及时了！”

Workers like Liu and Zhao would have faced much less hardship, had they lived in Canada and coped with the pandemic caused crisis under the care and protection by the Canadian government.  Their Canadian counterparts – contract workers, low-income employees, and those working in the gig economy have found their distress much relieved through the federal support programs. Ottawa announced a $52 billion emergence relief fund, providing $2000 a month benefits to help distressed workers pay rent and bring food on the table. It has since expanded its coverage several times, trying to include all those affected by the stalled economy. "I'd never expected anything like this would happen," said Lynda, a gig worker, gratefully in referring to CERB income. "It is my lifeline!"

对许多因瘟疫而身陷经济困境的华裔人士来说，这份政府的爱心援助实属喜出望外的及时雨，让他们深感振奋和惊喜。在移民国度加拿大，他们亲身体验了来自国家的关怀和体恤，也第一次感到一个考虑他们的安危冷暖，并将他们的利益放置首位的政府所带来的温暖。毋庸置疑，加国政府的资助意义深远，不仅解救他们于危难，并让他们获得了华裔们世世代代所渴望的安全感。

 For many Chinese Canadians caught up in a desperate place, the immediate support from the government is mind-blowing and a pleasant surprise. It is also a game-changing experience, allowing them to experience the care and protection personally from the state and to get a firsthand view of a government that puts their wellbeing first. The support from the Canadian government goes a long way help build a sense of security that ethnic Chinese have coveted in generations.