Canada has the Bell (telephone) and Rogers (cable) duopoly. In addition, both of them offer internet service and cellular data service. Odds are, if the Canadian government (agencies and governments underneath the Canadian federal government or any of the provincial governments and their subordinate agencies) ever did need information about anyone they could call one of these two companies first.
Note: I am not at all sure if Canadian laws allow for this kind of thing, and I am not all accusing either company or any of their competitors of being party to such a request. I'm merely indicating that because of the market dominance of two very large telecommunication companies who practically own the cables underground, the airwaves above, and reasonable number of media outlets in Canada between them, the number of requests an entity would need to make to gather information about someone is pretty small. I would not be surprised if the order of requests for information went something like: call Rogers and get any info, call Bell and get any info, call Google and get any info.
Good point, subpoena to a domestic company deeply connected to the government would be easier than targeting Google. I'm not sure what Australia's telecom situation is, but I'd imagine that would also be the case.
Note: I am not at all sure if Canadian laws allow for this kind of thing, and I am not all accusing either company or any of their competitors of being party to such a request. I'm merely indicating that because of the market dominance of two very large telecommunication companies who practically own the cables underground, the airwaves above, and reasonable number of media outlets in Canada between them, the number of requests an entity would need to make to gather information about someone is pretty small. I would not be surprised if the order of requests for information went something like: call Rogers and get any info, call Bell and get any info, call Google and get any info.
Edit: added "In addition,"