Tories cut scene of bird pooping on Dion

OTTAWA, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The Canadian Conservative Party has cut a scene from an Internet ad showing a bird leaving droppings on Liberal leader Stephane Dion, the party said Tuesday.

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for inclusion of the scene featuring a defecating puffin, calling it "tasteless and inappropriate," The Globe and Mail reported.

The party blamed the clip on an overzealous Web designer, the newspaper said.

The ad at notaleader.ca, which shows Dion in front of a blackboard that bears comments like "weak leader" and "out of touch," still shows a puffin flying around the former academic who served as a Cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin . But the bird no longer defecates on his shoulder, a United Press International review of the site found.

The Conservatives cut the clip after the Liberals issued a statement saying the ad "crosses the line."

The "personal smear will backfire on Stephen Harper," the statement added.

Harper has called a federal election for Oct. 14.