The Kremlin denies all involvement

(Rumours of Oscar the Otter's mayoral campaign were somewhat premature. Photo via Josh Bennett on Facebook.)

It is now April 2, which means the fun is done and it's time to come clean and keep the lawyers at bay.

For those readers not familiar with the former Recorder and Times tradition of the Lirpa Loof gag, please be reassured, yesterday's blog post about Russian interference in Brockville's October municipal election was my humble attempt to keep that April Fool's tradition running.

People familar with the Russian language may have been tipped off without the Lirpa Loof reference, since the name of the fictitious Russian agent, Anatoli Durakov, is a pun on "Durak," the Russian word for "idiot."

And the image of a city cop dressed as a fish, improbable as it appears, was gleaned from a perfectly legitimate news item earlier this year: A police charity fundraiser at Captain George's Fish and Chips.

That said, if Oscar the Otter does want to run for Brockville mayor, I hope to be the first to tell you.