Voters never gonna give him up? Can London, Ont.'s Van Meerbergen 'Rickroll' to re-election?

Fair tactics, dirty politics or just an election prank?

Ward 10 incumbent in London, Ont., Paul Van Meerbergen confirms that he no longer controls the website address listed on some of his election signs.

Instead, voters who go to paulvanmeerbergen.ca are ‘Rickrolled,’ an internet prank that unexpectedly redirects the viewer to the music video for the 1987 song ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by singer Rick Astley.

The video has over 1.2 billion views on YouTube generated by Rickrolling since 2007.

Van Meerbergen says the situation has temporarily left him without a critical election tool.

“I think there is an expectation that you come into an election with a website, that the information is there,” he told CTV News.

Van Meerbergen admits he did not renew the registration of his web address when it came due — only to discover someone has anonymously purchased the URL for the next four years.

“Hate to admit that when I heard this story I laughed a little bit,” said technology expert Carmi Levy.

Levy points out that the damage caused to the incumbent councillor’s campaign could have been much worse if the address was used to damage Van Meerbergen’s reputation or it was held for ransom.

“Politicians should know that when you have a website and are using that website as part of your campaign, make sure that the registration for that domain doesn’t lapse,” he advised.

The timing of the registration suggests it’s more than a prank.

An online search reveals the web address was anonymously registered on Aug. 20, just three days after Van Meerbergen filed his papers to seek re-election.

Van Meerbergen said he has registered a new website address, pvanmeerbergen.ca and has started updating his old signs with the new URL.

“It’s very important and we expect it will be live in three days or so,” he said.

Advance polls open in less than two weeks.

Levy said getting an online campaign presence up and running should be a priority for all politicians.

“It is 2022 and if you are going to engage in politics, you are going to have to have a digital presence whether you like it or not,” he said. “That means websites, a social [media] presence, email and other things to meet people in the digital space where they live.”

The other candidates in Ward 10 are Claire Grant, John Kuypers, Kevin May and Michael McMullen.