The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that the Bank of Canada came close to cutting interest rates Wednesday. The Globe's David Parkinson writes that now, there is nothing blocking the path to a rate cut early next year. The BOC concluded that the economy's output gap will remain open until the middle of 2018, about six months later than it estimated in its July report. A gap nearly two years wide represents a gaping wound, pushing the limits of the BOC's tolerance. It opted against stitching it up with a rate cut, but came close. Governor Stephen Poloz revealed the BOC's Governing Council "actively discussed the possibility of adding more monetary stimulus at this time." This is more candour than we typically see from the bank, so the fact that Mr. Poloz mentioned it at all is a strong signal. That he characterized it as being under active consideration implies a cut was possible. Officially, the bank held off making a cut because it feels that many of the key factors it sees weighing on growth are both hard to measure and still evolving. Unofficially, the biggest argument against a cut was that it would have floored the financial markets, which were utterly unprepared for any such prospect.