Beryl Potter

Early Life

Beryl Potter grew up in the city of Liverpool, England, as the youngest of five. Potter and her siblings moved around a lot after the death of their father when she was a toddler. Potter’s childhood was marked by the consequences of the Great Depression in the 1930s, including deep financial hardship and deaths in her family. (See also The Great Depression in Canada.)

During the Second World War, Potter volunteered to work in a munitions factory before finding work as a railway station master.

She later married her husband Victor, in 1945. She gave birth to four children, one of whom came into the world stillborn with spina bifida.

Post-war Britain was filled with financial strife. The rationing of many daily goods was not lifted until 1954. As such, Potter and her husband decided to take advantage of an immigration program to move to Toronto. Potter and her children were only able to stay for seven months as Victor couldn’t find a job. However, after he took a position with the Toronto Transit Commission, Beryl was able to return to Canada. Once they settled, she took a job at a baking and lunch counter at a department store. She also weathered her husband's addiction to alcohol (see Alcoholism) and parented her children, one of whom had an intellectual disability.

Disability

Beryl Potter’s own personal run-in with disability first came during this period. She battled migraines that led to her developing an addiction to painkillers. She was later hospitalized in Toronto. She switched jobs to a bakery close to home to lessen the stress of her commute.

On 11 September 1965, during a regular day at work, she slipped and fell. The accident led to blood clots and then serious thrombophlebitis. Two years later, her right leg was amputated.

As the main breadwinner in her household, Potter felt the financial strain of keeping her family above water. The amputation led to a suicide attempt. Potter also separated from her husband who, instead of supporting her, spent his time drinking alcohol and engaging in extramarital affairs. Six years of intense pain followed, including frequent surgeries and hospitalizations. Her addiction to painkillers also persisted.

While on the way to an appointment to fit her for a prosthetic at Sunnybrook Hospital, Potter was injured in a car crash. The accident led to clotting in her left leg and a second amputation above the knee. Due to a mistake with an unsanitary bandage, an infection set in, and her leg had to also be amputated up to the hip later on. For a year, Beryl had to lie on her right side. The pressure on her right arm resulted in more clotting. As a result, in 1970, this led to the additional amputation of her right arm. The following year, she also lost sight in her right eye due to a blood clot.

For someone who was already struggling with adapting to disabled life, this quick sequence of events was difficult to manage. She went on to attempt suicide multiple times again before swearing off painkillers in 1971. That same year, she finalized her divorce with her husband.

Disability Advocacy

After emerging from what was a dark period, Beryl Potter entered a world that wasn’t built for her. For instance, accessible transit services were not readily available. Moreover, Canada’s growing social safety net was not enough to save her from bankruptcy.

Encouraged by the growing disability rights movement of the 1970s, Potter decided to get involved. She began by supporting the Ontario chapter of March of Dimes, a non-profit organization that provides various services and financial supports for disabled Canadians. From there, she worked towards the creation of the Scarborough Recreation Club for Disabled Adults, which opened in 1975. She advocated for the club’s members, including when it came to securing housing and transit options.

Potter’s advocacy was prolific and diverse. She hosted a television show called Ability Forum, which focused on disability issues. She also became a vocal supporter of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope as a fundraiser, and she advocated for disabled people to be included in Ontario’s human rights legislation. Like many advocates, before and since, Potter led presentations aimed at school-aged children and regularly starred in documentaries highlighting her work. Additionally, Potter was deeply involved in advocacy work surrounding the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981.

Despite being a shy kid, Potter did not mince words when it came to her advocacy. She once wrote to a government committee tasked with improving Canada’s accessibility: “Maybe there’s too much red tape, but not enough scissors to cut it with.” After being refused federal funding for a disability campaign in Scarborough, she raised the funds via local events, private donations and volunteer help. She told the Toronto Star: “When we are finished, I’m going to Ottawa to tell them exactly what I think of them.”

Potter focused a lot of her advocacy on transit issues. She protested against the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) handling of accessible transit. Up until then, a private company had been in charge of the matter. Protests were a preferred tactic for Potter’s advocacy. A 1981 demonstration led to the company’s leadership meeting with the protesters. The TTC committed to changes but didn’t follow through. In another case, she supported striking transit workers in an effort to get better accessible transit options for Torontonians. When accused of being a militant activist for her in-person presence and determination, she responded with: “I won’t be a militant until I start burning buses.”

In 1986, she helped organize more than 100 people from across the country to protest at Parliament Hill for better employment legislation for disabled people. Her efforts led to her being asked to leave the House of Commons, but she refused.

Potter founded or helped found organizations aimed at supporting disabled Canadians, including the Coalition on Employment Equity for Persons with Disabilities, Action Awareness, and the Scarborough Recreation Club for Disabled Adults. Potter also served on a number of committees. She was known in Toronto as a force to be reckoned with. As one former mayoral assistant put it: “Good old Beryl, the type of person who’ll park her wheelchair on your foot until she gets what she wants — and it works.”

Notably, the Ontario Liberal Party approached her to run in the 1990 Ontario provincial election. She agreed but came second in the Toronto riding of Beaches-Woodbine.

Beryl Potter’s approach to disability activism was influential and radical for her time. Her success as an advocate, however, did not translate into financial success; she lived under the poverty line for the majority of her life.

After another blood clot, Potter died from kidney failure and cardiac arrest on 1 May 1998.

Honours and Awards

• Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship (1980)
• Scarborough Civic Award of Merit (1981)
• Order of Ontario (1988)
• Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Waterloo (1992)
• Terry Fox Hall of Fame (now known as the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame) (1994)
• Order of Canada (1996)

Did you know?
Beryl Potter’s legacy is cemented by the awards she won throughout her life, which included the Order of Canada. Even then, she couldn’t attend the reception after the announcement event due to its inaccessible location.