Toronto: a 'maritime community'

Speaking in Toronto on June 21, 2003, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reminded Torontonians of the value of Lake Ontario and the importance of protecting public assets for all the public:

This is a maritime community. Toronto grew up as a nautical city and yet its relationship to the water has been cut off. And thats what happens to our water resources, to the public trust, to the commons; we allow industry to privatize to take them over and take them away from the public and the public thinks its okay because they're doing it and they turn their backs on the water and go play golf or do some other activities. The commons have been privatized by private parties for personal profit. And what we do as Riverkeepers is we retake the commons and we reassert the public's right to the commons.