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By BARB JOY Oakville Beaver Stttlf ometimes it takes a public protest to get results.That's what a group of mothers found out after they had hoisted placards tn front of the work- places of self-employed fathers who had fallen behind in their child support payments. The newlyiformed group. Mothers Against Fathers ln Arrears (MAFIA), picketed last month at Nygard International in Toronto and then went on to the office of Dr. Knute Keire, a Burlington dentist, the same day. Since that time, figures obtained from the attorney general's office on June 4th showed that Peter Nygard has paid all but $98 of the outstanding child support and school expenses for his child who lives in Oakville with his moth- er, Kaarina Pakka. Pakka said that at one time Nygard's outstanding child support payments were "in the thou- sands". June 4th figures also revealed that Keire has paid much of his outstanding child support bill but is still owing $7,068 as of that date. Keire was not available for comment. "lt (picketing) works but it's a shame you have to go to the point of humiliating your child 's father," said Pakka. "I can see it (non-payment) when the father is unemployed and not able to make a contribution but when the father is living in the Bahamas tax hee and making mega millions a year..." She said the mothers were forced to resort to more stringent methods of getting backlogged support payments because the government, although quite successful in get- ting child support payments from salaried employees through its automatic wage deduction program, sometimes has trouble collecting them from self-employed fathers who can afford to pay to support their children "but who Mothers Against Fathers In Arrears getting militant over delinquent dads These MAFIA members really mean business mumnuumdws &hdmma§ettgw, 's'l'stiffatltak tihrrNhite) m atiiiiiifiiiiieis r, cruise ksmdfslhm lhhNhflfi)R'S PICK OF THE WEEK 1993 PONTIAC GRAND PRIX SE 1993 CL'IIASS SUPREME 4 Door; leather interior, ladd power Stock#U%16 1993 ACHIEVA SL ITiIij" Go 1992 BUICK REGAL GRAND SPORT AlligetlhheAtt,v6, .mlp,hCiuyj.sbv.s, ttttht/ht/t (i99i)i)km M15593 'fhmedsbasedor148rtrmths, (DIA 1991 CHEVASTRO ms p.windows, "tii'rd'reiiJ'ii'G"u AWyiasd,78,()()i) msmm 1992 CHEN ASTRO 547 Malgar Rd. (at the Q.E.W., Oakville) . 844-2320 "ft JTfiirij, Pee ,, _ L - A 'ff PHONE CALL845-5585 _iii'iiss'sc $16,763 GUM! hy $17,791 TTDI/i/NE $17,995 tiisxiiiiisii,aiib's $17,995 $16,900 orkase$39Y Tii Jr lease $38Y illlE TEENS MAKE A BEELINE TO OUR TEENLINE 1easewith 500m,&seam ltr/tlg. md [L990 ASTRO IAN cr MODEL wat, tlt, erase. Rr/tr, 90 (s';tiWak3'm $145 Vii, mug/C. 1111.] km Stk M596 assent. auto, NC, tilt, mm , 1991 CHEV. ASTRO LT 1990 GM SAFARI Bang/C. tilt, power '1'st,t'dtt'ja) 18295 ms Stk 141E596 #5180 Wf,ffQ my payment reamed 0A She and her son experienced the results of what she described as a weakness in the system. When payments were not forthcoming for months, she worried aloud to friends about how she would meet expenses. Her five- year-old son picked up on it. Eventually, he became quite choose not to." Although the govemmc methods as Writ of Seizure and Sale, f have been known to circumvent this by bank accounts and worldly possession: friends' names, she noted. "money-conscious", she said, asking her point-blank if they could afford certain things. A long-time Air Canada attendant who pays a nanny to look after her son when she is flying for days at a time, Pakka said she decided to participate in a time-sharing plan with the airlines so she could spend more time with her child. He had developed behavioral problems due to “inconsistencies in his upbringing," she said. However, time-sharing also cut her working hours and paycheque. Although she sees an improvement in her son, her salary isn't what it used to be and she depends more and more on promptly paid support payments. a Winnipeg-based organization which exports women's clothing to the US. and which is reported to have an esti- mated $200 million in annual sales. "lt's so humiliating trying to track these men," she said "I was phoning around the world and my phone bill was horrendous. I finally told myself this just wasn't accept able and I wasn't taking another 20 years of it." But getting them was always a problem in her five-year separation from Nygard who heads Nygard lntemational. And so Pakka and Regina May of Toronto set out to find other women in similar situations by advertising through women's groups. The committee of 10 women from various areas of the province is working to attract more women across the country. They say swelling ranks CHEW WE GEO INC xlease$38y A COMPLETE SELF DEFENCE AND TOTAL PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN . KARATE . lU-IITSU 0 TAI CHI . WEAPONRY SUMMER SPECIAL $14900 338 Kerr St. Oakville, Ontario, L6K 385 Telephone 338-3733 m can use such athers in arrears putting all their ; into their zirl- 3 Month as Regina May (left) and Kaarina Pakka of Oakville (right) protest against men who won't keep up with ' child support payments. will allow members to mobilize into a strong lobbying this, they say, is to force fathers in arrears to clear their group and a force to be reckoned with when they lobby debt before a driver's licence, aprofessional licence or an? other self-employed fathers who refuse to support their other kind of licence is issued, said Pakka children. um. _ M ”In...“ Mann. a.-. a..- m..:_-:_1 mm... t., They expect to be getting national exposure on the CBC and in the Toronto Star, said Pakka. On June 24th, they will also demonstrate outside the offices of the Anomey-General, demanding legislation be changed to ensure self-employed fathers pay up. One way of doing "'7’ l agPr, ‘uxl/IML- IRC'; 4104 Fainiew St., Burlington Bealem Appleby 8 Wkers Line Your Specialty Bath Shop for Total Renovations and Design 1tij'iiiill'f1' 3am mm mm ". / 2325mm "We want to show people that the provincial system is totally dysfunctional," said Pakka. "We believe child sup- port legislation needs to be federal, not provincial, because fathers in arrears often move to other provinces to escape (See Women' page 14) 639-0500 m} HOURS: Mon-Thurs. 95, m. 99, Sat. 9-4 1% arf, 'i/rt re'