AHC higher Newfoundland Population

[Gloss]

Please. Sure there are a bajillion threads from ten years ago about whether or not it could even work but there have only been a few that I know of that have explored the consequences of settlement hundreds of years down the line let alone what the modern day would look like.

No discussion about modern consequences but there have been discussion on what would happen by around 1500.

 

[Arkenfolm]

Farming usually involves soil. There's a reason Newfoundland is colloquially known as "The Rock".
When outport fishermen wanted to grow gardens, especially for potatoes, they BUILT their soil, dumping seaweed and fish guts in rocky hollows and letting it rot.
Oh sure, there's the odd place with decent soil, but vastly more agriculture just isn't going to happen.

Which is reminiscent of what was done in Ireland in places like the Aran Islands, and Newfoundland had a substantial amount of Irish emigrants (although from different parts of Ireland than the Aran Islands). So I'd be pretty confident that some early Irish immigrants could show what needs to be done to gain a modicum of self-sufficiency in the better parts of Newfoundland.

 

[Gwyain]

Strictly in terms of self-sufficiency a lot of places that still import food would probably be able to get by without, after the green revolution and Haber-Bosch such limitations have been relaxed a lot, do you think Newfoundland ever hit its carrying capacity pre 1900? I feel like a lot of people put so much effort in these questions when really if a land can support the people you don't really need a complex justification for it.

I was thinking of places like Hawaii, the UAE, or Singapore specifically with that. I suppose a more accurate example might be places with high population density that import food from within the same country.

As for Newfoundland, I'm not entirely sure. It's population grew pretty rapidly in the 19th century from ~50,000 to ~200,000 by the late 19th century all before Haber-Bosch. I can't imagine Newfoundland was importing a great deal of guano myself, but I really don't know for sure. Assuming that ~200,000 is Newfoundland's early modern carrying capacity (which I'll admit is assuming quite a bit, but seems reasonable enough), Newfoundland didn't hit it until the late 19th century. It's possible that its lower than that and it was importing guano I suppose, but it also could be higher and it just never reached it, its hard to tell. All that said, its not as if the Canadas, US, and Prairies are lacking in agricultural commodities, so Newfoundland can certainly source food from there once it hits whatever its carrying capacity is.

 

[knightdepaix]

Does shipbuilding mean the Canadian Navy could keep its last 2 aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificient, HMCS Bonaventure?

 

[Arkenfolm]

Does shipbuilding mean the Canadian Navy could keep its last 2 aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificient, HMCS Bonaventure?

I doubt there would be much shipbuilding in Newfoundland even in this scenario with a Newfoundland with a healthier economy and larger population. Probably nothing bigger than fishing boats and the distance from any major cities would make such an industry precarious.

A Newfoundland with a larger population and more diversified economy probably wouldn't even join Canada. If we assume history has (somehow) gone similarly to OTL, then Newfoundland wouldn't be hit as hard in the Depression and as a result would probably not have it's government suspended so would remain an independent Dominion. There would be much less of a perception that Newfoundland would be too small to be a viable country since it would have maybe 750K-1M people TTL.

 

[Raferty]

Atlantic Canada in general has just never had a large population of immigrants and Newfoundland is part of that as well.

If you want to cut down on emigration to the Alberta oil sands, perhaps have less available air travel in Canada, with the airlines far more regulated, expensive, and with less airports in places like Fort McMurray

 

[Strategos' Risk]

It also didn't help that for a long time, the Board of Trade and the Admiralty actively worked to limit settlement in Newfoundland, seeing it largely as nothing more than a seasonal fishery settlement which did not justify the need for a permanent population - which other population groups quickly proved wrong. Now, maybe @Jürgen is onto something with the Scandinavian experience of switching to dairy farming and all that, which may help, but ultimately the main thing is that to get a larger, more permanent settlement in Newfoundland outside of the fisheries requires squeezing as much life as can be done from the land, with whatever agricultural potential there is, with the seaweed and fish as a start. To get that to work would rely on better relations with the Aboriginal peoples and other non-British population groups.

Hey, if a ton of Swedes immigrated into the American Midwest in the 18th century, couldn't some go to Newfoundland if the board didn't block them from doing so? And bring along their dairy expertise?