Introduction
There are too many communications channels these days, but on of the more obscure 2300AD channels there was a question about Doris' population. I was always known to be small, but I realised the Earth/Cybertech SB explains why. This is me communicating it, and its' implications on Canada.
Doris in GDW 2300AD
Canada's colony on Doris has a population of "300 families" or ca. 1,500, and it is literally destroying the country. Reading the Earth/Cybertech SB reveals why.
The "Canadian Finger" is in the 1986 edition of Traveller:2300. It says the Canadians were the first to chart DM+20 5046 (Doris' system), and needed to place outposts at DM+19 5116 and DM+15 4733 to fuel ships travelling to and from Doris. The next system, AC+17 534-105 contains a "relatively pleasant" planet, and the Doris colony supposedly gives Canada a claim on it (but c.f. the Melbourne Accords).
Doris is detailed in the Colonial Atlas. Now, the planetary description is impossible. Doris is in orbit in the notional "habitable zone" of a red dwarf, and is tide-locked and hence cannot have an atmosphere.* Worse, it is stated not to have a magnetic field, so it definitely has no atmosphere and is a barren, irradiated world. Worse, it has rings, and so it could have regular extinction level impacts.
The writer of the Doris section in the CA didn't realise Doris was tidally locked, although he made the 1st planet, Nereus, tidally locked. The problem is that the world generation rules did not account for the effect of tidally locking a world. If a world was nominally in the life zone and had a dense atmosphere then it went to the garden world table, and the only modifiers were based on star lifetime. Red dwarfs, the longest lived stars, got a +3 on the roll and were thus more likely to produce a post-garden world. In reality, tidally locked planets really cannot have liquid water, cannot develop oxygen atmospheres, and are likely to have their atmosphere stripped since they don't have magnetic fields to divert the solar wind.
Regardless of that, in the Doris write-up in the CA, the population is 300 families, or about 1,500 people. This is despite the UK providing a pair of York class colony ships capable of moving more people than that in a single lift. The E/CS explained this, but first let us discuss Canadian Starships.
In the 2250's, Canada did not operate any starships, which became a concern to the government (SotFA, 52). The Canadian government decided to acquire starships, and acquired the Westerner colony ships (i.e. the Yorks provided by the UK) and the Hudson class freighter. The Westerner (Yorks) are now out of service (although the CA states they might be reactivated), and "several" Hudson's still supply the Canadian outposts and Doris. Per the E/CS, Canada finally launched a Canadian built stutterwarp vessel in 2290 (E/CS, 28). This may be the fighters in the Doris system, as fighters can be built on the ground without needing a spacedock. The 1988 boxed set says the colonisation of Doris had Manchurian aid (AG, 80), so maybe they built the Hudson's.
Now, the E/CS clarifies that the people who moved to Doris were only temporary residents. The government subsidised people to go and work for the mining companies on Doris for a number of years, taking their families with them. They did a tour of duty on Doris and then were free to leave, and did. This explains the extremely low population; Doris was never really a true colony. It is more like an outpost.
Now, elsewhere on the Chinese Arm is the colony of Shaoguan on Chengdu, one of the eight truly habitable worlds humanity was settled.** This is likely the major stronghold of Provolution, and about a quarter of the population are of Canadian extraction. Shaoguan was founded in 2241 based on the Life Foundation wanting a colony, and making an arrangement with Manchuria. A lot of Canadians have emigrated there, although it is not a Canadian territory and strictly they are now Manchurian citizens.
The population of 4.1 million for Shaoguan is inconguent with the fact that this is a "light effort" colony which would give a population of ca. 410,000. This is a common mistake in GDW works, with extra zeros added by misreading. Shoaguan's population is that, and includes about 100,000 Canadians. A good explanation is that a lot of people finish their contract and Doris and then migrate to Shaoguan (or more recently the penal colony of Xixuang, which recently started allowing open settlement). 100,0000 Canadians would be approximately the capacity of the two Yorks over the period, and thus in round figures it looks like most of the Doris workers relocated to Shaoguan or elsewhere. It is thus a matter of the Canadian government paying for Manchurian colonies via Doris.
Canada in GDW 2300AD
Canada is described as having a major crisis due to the loss of much of the highly skilled workforce. Canadian government policy is literally promoting a "brain drain." Between this drain on the most productive members of society, and vast sums being spent to promote the Doris project, Canada is far less economically developed than France or Britain. Historically, Canada's economy was based upon the exploitation of mineral wealth, with Britain as their major buyer. The minerals are drying up, and other sources are being exploited by Britain (Greenland, Antarctica, the Belt, Tirane, Beowulf and Crater). Given that Doris is wholely and entirely a mineral and oil extraction outpost operated for these companies, it looks like straight up corporate corruption.
Canada is thus being dragged down by Doris. Vast sums of government are effectively being spent sending corporate workers to Doris, who do not stay and instead relocate to other colonies. They then contribute towards the Manchurian (and probably British) economies. The governments response per the E/CS is to up the subsidies for people to work on Doris even more. This is basically "Anemia? More leaches." Long-term plans to expand into the AC+17 534-105 system*** are on indefinite hold until Doris can be made viable.
Meanwhile, the productivity of Canada has taken a serious hit. It only has about 70% of the per-capita industrial output of Britain, and only produces a slight excess of food and minerals. It is not a particularly rich nation, as evidenced by the poor social security programs. Canada is a small country with a middling economy, and one held back by overly corporatist economic policies.
PS: Something not noticed by people is 2300AD Canada is no longer officially bilingual. Canada is an English speaking nation (c.f. "The Nations of Earth" in both boxed sets). This probably changed when the Quebecois tried their hand at seceeding during the Twilight War.
Conclusion
Did Canada get Screwed? Kind of. They weren't the only ones, as witnessed by the New Cornwall write-up. We just have to find explanations. In this case, it looks like the E/CS was trying to explain away the low population like they explained away the Australian colony on Tirane not actually existing., It makes for an interesting and different colonisation story. Doris is more like Outland than Alberta. The mineral wealth is likely from the impact sites, and Doris is a domed outpost (New Champlain) which sends crawlers to domed mining camps at the craters to carry back minerals, whilst others go up and down the oil pipelines repairing them.
For campaigns, Canadian characters have the option of having done a tour on Doris. This would give them significant money to relocate as they will. A Canadian with their big fat completion bonus and a ticket to anywhere in Terran space would make for a good start for a character.
Notes
* Same for Nibelungen, Adlerhorst, Dunkelheim, Hochbaden, Heidelsheimat, Montana, Austin's World, King, Ellis, and Botany Bay. These are all in the tidally locked zones of red dwarfs or smaller orange dwarfs. These worlds are unlikely to have much atmosphere, and can never develop liquid water and hence an oxygen atmosphere.
** Only eight planets would be capable of sustaining Human life without external support due to the environment (temperature, gravity and atmosphere). They are Tirane (polar regions only), Beowulf (equitorial regions only), BCV-4 (equitorial), Joi (equitorial), Daikoku (polar), Syuhlahm (Earth-like range), Kwantung (equitorial) and Chengdu (equitorial). The rest are domed cities etc. in the systems as described.
*** In fanon, this world was settled by Canadian separatists, and Colin's version incorporated the fanon. Canon is clear there will be no colonisation in the near future.
