The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Ontario is handing the country's investment industry regulator new enforcement powers. The Globe's Jameson Berkow writes that Ontario plans to introduce new legislation granting the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization statutory authority to compel evidence in its investigations and disciplinary hearings. The province also promised legislative updates that would provide CIRO staff with legal immunity for any good-faith actions. The changes will provide CIRO, a self-regulatory organization, with many of the same enforcement tools that have long been available to the Ontario Securities Commission, the province's official market watchdog. In a statement, CIRO chief executive officer Andrew Kriegler said the government was sending an important message by expanding the organization's powers. He said: "If you harm investors in Ontario, you will be held accountable for your actions. As a public interest regulator, these new enforcement tools will enable us to provide stronger protection to investors." CIRO, which was formed in 2023, and its predecessor groups, have been seeking statutory immunity and the power to compel testimony for many years.