A pooping puffin distracted federal political leaders Tuesday from their policy pronouncements and forced Stephen Harper to make a rare apology to his main rival, Stéphane Dion.
Publicly, the Liberals expressed outrage over a Conservative internet attack ad that showed a little black and white puffin flying past Mr. Dion and defecating on his right shoulder.
The ad was posted on the Tory website Monday night. It was hastily pulled Tuesday morning after reporters started asking politicians about it, but it was regularly re-run on TV and posted on other websites.
Mr. Harper called the ad "tasteless and inappropriate" and said he didn't know about the web clip before it was posted Monday night; the Tories blamed an overly creative web designer. But his apology made just as much news as his first promise of the campaign to halve the federal excise tax on diesel and aviation fuel over four years.
Mr. Dion called it a vulgar attack ad; but later accepted Mr. Harper's apology.
"It's just their usual mischief-making stuff and no one should take it seriously," said Liberal Senator Jim Munson, who is part of the Dion entourage.
Privately, Liberals are loving the puffin-pooping gaffe, as it makes the Tories appear juvenile and crude. One Liberal joked that the Tories couldn't even get the pooping part right as the puffin is known for hiding its excrement.
The Liberal sarcastically demanded a "reality check" - the quick background e-mails that parties send out to counter or dispute claims made by their opponents on policies.
The puffin is significant as Mr. Dion's deputy, Michael Ignatieff, mused about the little bird at the Liberal's summer caucus retreat in Newfoundland last year. Mr. Ignatieff was the subject of some derision after he offered a little hinterland-who's-who type moment about the "noble" puffin: "They lay one egg [each year]" he said. "They put their excrement in one place. They hide their excrement.... They flap their wings very hard and they work like hell. This seems to me a symbol for what our party should be."
NDP leader Jack Layton called the website that had the ad "childish."
"I don't think Canadians appreciate that kind of politics," he said. "I don't think Canadians are going to let real debate get drowned out by cartoons of a childish nature and mean-spirited remarks. In fact, I think it's going to cause people to say we need some real change at the top."
Earlier in the day, Mr. Dion had said that he didn't think Conservatives supported such attack ads.
The Tories have for months been targeting and mocking Mr. Dion's leadership through the internet site www.notaleader.ca. Last year the Conservatives used the site to push Bill S-4, the legislation aimed at capping Senate terms to eight years. As part of that they asked whether Mr. Dion would ever show leadership and posted a fake blog written by his dog, Kyoto.
With files from Omar El Akkad and Gloria Galloway