The federal government has spent more than $1 million over the last three years to support a public appointments commission that doesn't exist.

The blue-ribbon panel was a 2006 election promise by the Conservatives, who soon passed the Federal Accountability Act that included plans to create the commission.

The new body was to monitor the way cabinet makes appointments to public offices which are traditionally mired in patronage.

The five-member panel would ensure the process is "conducted in a fair, open and transparent manner and that the appointments are based on merit," said the act, passed in the wake of the Liberal sponsorship scandal.

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper cancelled those plans in May 2006 when his choice for commission chairman, Alberta oilman Gwyn Morgan, was roundly rejected by opposition MPs.

Morgan, who was to be paid $1 a year, was voted down at a House of Commons committee partly because of doubts he had raised publicly about the wisdom of multiculturalism.

The secretariat hired to support the commission's work, however, has carried on for three years, eventually racking up more than $1 million in expenses.

The secretariat, created in April 2006, consists of four staff members, including an executive director, and was conceived to provide clerical, research and other support for commission members. The secretariat is within the portfolio of the Prime Minister's Office.

After $633,000 spent in the first year, staffing was reduced to zero for seven months in 2007. A deputy executive director and administrative assistant were then hired in November 2007, described as a "skeleton staff."

Parliamentary records show that until April 30 this year, the three-year cost to taxpayers to support the non-existent commission has hit almost $1,050,000, including at least $82,000 in severance payments for the 2007 layoffs.

During that period, support staff have carried out "research on international and domestic best practices," created "prototypes" for standards, and developed "options for a Code of Practice," which is required under the act.

The secretariat has a budget of $1,063,000 for the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, though the funds include payments to commission members and other direct costs of supporting their work. If no commission is appointed in 2009-10, actual costs would be much lower.

Last year, the secretariat was given a similar million-dollar budget, but wound up spending only about a third because there was no commission appointed.

In 2006, when Morgan was rejected and the commission scuttled, a spokeswoman for Harper said the Conservatives would try to revive the body in their next mandate.

But there's been no indication since the October 2008 election, which handed Harper a larger minority, if or when his government plans to proceed with creation of the commission.

The Prime Minister's Office and the Privy Council Office did not respond to requests for comment.

The Federal Accountability Act requires that the prime minister consult with the leaders of the opposition parties before making any appointments to the public appointments commission, but does not require their approval.