Montreal — Prime Minister Paul Martin yesterday formally appointed Glen Murray to head a federal environmental advisory board over the objection of a Commons committee that rejected his patronage appointment.

Martin's willingness to thumb his nose at the verdict from the House of Commons environment committee he asked to review the ex-Winnipeg mayor's nomination as chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy had the opposition accusing the prime minister of another broken promise.

NDP leader Jack Layton said the appointment of the defeated star Liberal candidate makes a lie of Martin's promise to end cronyism and will severely damage the credibility of the National Roundtable.

"Promise made and promise broken," Layton said.

He said Martin is not only ignoring the vote from the environment committee earlier this month, which found Murray an unsuitable chairman, but also from the ballot boxes in the Winnipeg riding of Charleswood-St. James Assiniboia last June.

"Whatever happened to democracy in all of this?" Layton asked. "It's the same-old, same-old Liberal policy and it reeks."

In an interview, Murray said he spoke with the prime minister earlier this week and is delighted with the mandate he has been given.

"It's a great thing and I am looking forward to the challenge."

Murray said the committee's review of his nomination was "ridiculously partisan" and rejected Layton's suggestion his appointment has harmed the National Roundtable's credibility.

Tory MP Steven Fletcher, who defeated Murray in the federal election, said the prime minister has added to the democratic deficit he promised to reduce.

"This is just scandalous," said Fletcher. "Cronyism is alive and well in the Liberal Party of Canada and that is really sad."

Murray's fate as the nominated chairman of the National Roundtable had been in Martin's hands since the environment committee brought down its non-binding verdict.

In a release yesterday, the prime minister made no mention of the controversy hanging over Murray's appointment as he formally named him to the part-time post, which pays up to $450 a meeting.

"As a former mayor of Winnipeg, Glen Murray is one of the pioneers of the green municipal infrastructure initiative," Martin said. "The national leadership he demonstrated as chair of the Big City Mayors Caucus and through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities also positions Mr. Murray very well to lead NRTEE in providing advice and expertise to the Government of Canada as it works to fulfill its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol."

By officially naming Murray to the job, Martin avoids the possibility that the House of Commons as a whole would pass judgement on his appointment, as the Tories have demanded.

Scott Reid, the prime minister's director of communications, said parliamentary review of senior government appointments never came with veto power.

"The prime minister was also clear when he introduced this reform that there was a corresponding responsibility on the part of the opposition parties to resist the tug of partisanship," Reid said. "No one wants to see a congressional-style circus where the reputations of people are dragged through the mud for political sport."