Good thing that Axel Meisen is out of the way

From a Rob Antle report on page 3 of the October 21, 2005 edition of the Quebec Daily Newspaper:

Premier Danny Williams says he wants Corner Brook's Sir Wilfred Grenfell College to stand on its own as the province's second university.

"I'd like to see Grenfell independent on the other coast," Williams told the editorial board of The Telegram this week.

"That's going to cost us some money, because you've got duplicate administration and duplicate hierarchy. But by the same token, they've got a niche over there. There's a certain market that they can go after. There are certain things that they can bring because of where they are, where they are located."

Williams said making Grenfell independent would help drive competition with Memorial University, and could make MUN better as a result.

"I don't want to just see it as a subsidiary, affiliate of Memorial, which is run by (MUN president) Axel (Meisen) and his team and all the St. John's crowd," the premier said.

[...]

"Right now, Axel wants to have it under the thumb, and I don't agree with him under any circumstances on that one. Axel and I often don't see eye to eye."