The premier doesn't seem to get it. Universities are already doing what they can to co-operate. McGill University runs several joint programs with the Universite de Montreal in disciplines such as nursing, mathematics and business. This allows both institutions to extend the range of what each alone could offer. But ending duplication is no way to save money, or to encourage excellence.
Universities get better by competing with each other, by striving to be the best they can be.
And Quebec universities can't begin to compete with institutions elsewhere when they're seriously underfunded. That's 50 per cent more for courses, student services, professors, library books, computers and athletic facilities. This government's intentions on universities are more than clear. The starvation diet will continue. There will be no increases in tuition fees for Quebec students and little freedom for universities to deregulate their fees, as Ontario is now doing.