Shawn Cleary was preparing to announce his candidacy for a seat on the Halifax regional council. But when he went online to register the domain names "shawncleary.com" and "shawncleary.ca" he discovered someone had already beat him to it.



Cleary looked up the domain names on "whois.com" — a domain registry database. To his surprise, Cleary learned that both domains were registered under Linda Mosher, the current councillor for the Halifax West Armdale district he hopes to represent.



Mosher released a statement admitting that she bought the domain names but claims she was "ill-advised" and did so only to "address potential misinformation and negative statements that may arise during the campaign."





Halifax Regional Councillor Linda Mosher apologized for buying the domain names of candidate, Shawn Cleary. (Paul Palmeter/CBC)

Carol Off: Has she (Mosher) explained why she bought your two domain names of yourself?



Shawn Cleary: Not to me directly, but through news articles that I've read she indicated that she wanted to control those domains so she could post accurate information about her campaign. Cleary spoke with As It Happens host Carol Off about Mosher's statement and why he questions her motives. Here is an excerpt of their conversation:Has she (Mosher) explained why she bought your two domain names of yourself?Not to me directly, but through news articles that I've read she indicated that she wanted to control those domains so she could post accurate information about her campaign.

CO: On your name's site..?



SC:On my name's site...



Screen grab of part of the statement Linda Mosher published on the "Communications" page of the District 9 website. (halifax.ca/district09)

CO: Do you think that the publicity around this dust-up over these domain names will help your campaign? On your name's site..?On my name's site...Do you think that the publicity around this dust-up over these domain names will help your campaign?

SC: Well, we're hoping that it does help. I mean, the irony is that it probably wasn't what she was hoping for. But, you know, I'll take whatever gifts are given to me.



This interview was edited for length and clarity.