"We believe this is only the tip of the iceberg," said Micheal Vonn, policy director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

The Modernization of Investigative Techniques Act would also require telecommunications companies like Telus and Bell to build into their systems a way to monitor and record every wireless communication made by their customers -- at a huge cost.

Currently, a telecommunications company can readily tap a telephone land line if police have a warrant, but tapping new technologies likes Blackberries, Internet and cellphones is not so easy.

"We are obviously creating a massive empire of surveillance by embedding it in the infrastructure," Vonn said.

Telus spokesman Parke Davis said the company has "issues" with the bill, in particular the requirement for a substantial investment in surveillance technology that would be passed on to consumers.

"We have concerns because while we support the principle of providing lawful access, we're being asked to shoulder the costs of providing this access almost as an unpaid deputy for the government," Davis said.

Davis said a key change under the bill would be that police would not need a warrant to get a customer's unlisted phone number, cellphone number and records or Internet provider address.

Vonn said the bill was driven by police and was questioned by the telecommunications industry and civil liberties groups during consultations.

"There was no support for this bill in any other realm," Vonn said.

"The point here is, if the police can't be troubled with getting a warrant, it's because they haven't met the standard of reasonable and probable grounds to access the warrant. On some level, it is what we would call a fishing expedition."

Particularly troubling, she said, is that the originally proposed bill is "much more draconian" than what was presented to Parliament yesterday.

"We think they will end up parceling it out and yesterday was the first parcel."

Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan said Canada is "well behind other nations" when it comes to giving law-enforcement agencies such tools.

The government says release of Internet subscriber information to authorities without a warrant would be subject to stringent privacy safeguards.

For instance, only designated police or the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service could make such a request. They would have to record the reasons and make the files available for audit.

Critics said the protection regime is weak because it occurs after the disclosure has been made.

"Unfortunately, the bill does precisely what privacy advocates warned against by increasing surveillance and decreasing oversight," the University of Ottawa's Michael Geist said.

Other elements of the plan that would spell out how companies must go about preserving electronic message data and the manner in which authorities can gain access to it is expected in a follow-up bill from Justice Minister Irwin Cotler.

The bill is expected to die on the order paper, as a general election call is expected in coming weeks.

But Vonn said it will likely be reintroduced by whichever government wins.

Conservative security critic Peter Mc-Kay said last night he supports the need to modernize the ability to monitor wireless communications.

But he had concerns about the rights of police to access basic customer information without a warrant.