The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Dec. 21, edition that Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem last week said recent data suggested the central bank could be done with rate hikes. The Globe's David Parkinson writes that it was a welcome disclosure. That is a necessary prelude to rate cuts in the coming months. What is abundantly evident in Mr. Macklem's comments is how nervous the BOC has become about housing costs. The summary of the BOC's decision tells us that the governing council discussed the problem "at length" -- the only issue that received such an emphasis in the five-page document. The irony is hard to miss. After all, housing inflation has been primarily fuelled by rising mortgage costs -- which are the direct result of the BOC's steep interest-rate increases. Alberta Central economist Charles St-Arnaud estimated in a report this week that shelter costs were responsible for 1.7 percentage points of November's 3.1-per-cent inflation rate -- and mortgage inflation alone made up 1.13 percentage points. The summary of deliberations indicates that collateral damage may be the biggest obstacle in the BOC's path back to its 2-per-cent inflation target.