The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that federal government is shelving its study of airport privatization after nearly two years of examining the multibillion-dollar potential of selling off the key federal assets. The Globe's Bill Curry writes that during a meeting with airport executives in Ottawa last week, Transport Minister Marc Garneau confirmed that the Liberal government is not moving ahead with privatization for now. The assurance provided some welcome certainty for Canada's airports, said Marc Laroche, who runs the Ottawa airport. "It was like a cloud hanging over the airport model and this brings clarity," he told The Globe. "It's the first time that the minister has stated it so forcefully. We kind of felt that the discussions had diminished quite a bit, but the minister confirmed that it's not under active consideration by the government. I was glad." The airport authorities in Calgary, Ottawa and Vancouver are against privatization, while Toronto's Pearson has expressed openness to considering some form of privatization as a way of paying for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority's plan to position the airport as a transportation hub that would include new commuter rail service.