If a university no longer needs to teach all of a subject, the relationship becomes parasitic. One program can't exist without the other and I believe it is inevitable that one or both programs will fail. Smaller units will lack the critical mass of intellectual interchange needed to produce significant academic research, to create knowledge and train graduate students. I believe that universities must provide all or none of a program, even if this creates focused universities. There can be no half-measures where specialized university education is concerned.
Budget cuts are a challenge which encourage cooperation with other Quebec universities.
Doctoral students from Concordia and U. de M. have asked McGill professors to direct their research. No formal merging of programs is presently envisaged because there are logistical problems and McGill needs assurance that our programs won't become dependent on endangered departments elsewhere. As recently as three years ago, there were five university departments in Montreal serving the geological and geophysical sciences. Moreover, both of these surviving departments have faced severe staff compressions during this period. We really have no choice but to cooperate in serving our students and researchers in the earth sciences.