Prior to becoming an amputee, Potter worked as a manager at a Kresge's department store and, later, the Women's Bakery at St. Clair Avenue in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough.
[1] In the early 1970s, Potter was involved in demonstrations lobbying for "parallel transit" in Toronto as part of the Trans-Action Coalition.
Potter helped to organize a volunteer service of converted, wheelchair accessible vans to provide door-to-door transit for disabled persons.
[9] In April 1986, Potter led activists from across Canada to protest the inadequacies of the federal employment equity legislation known as Bill C-62 in Ottawa.
Potter was forcibly removed from the gallery of the House of Commons after a verbal outcry against claims made by Flora MacDonald.
MacDonald, speaking on behalf of then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, claimed that the government had attempted to consult disability rights organizations, including sending a letter to Potter.
[16] Because her legs were not amputated at the same length, Potter later developed uneven wheelchair posture and ensuing complications with pain and swelling.