He won't criticize Premier Christy Clark for directing Liberal members on a committee to retain the current auditor general, but city MLA Kevin Krueger called John Doyle "rude and arrogant."

Krueger's comments come the same day the premier said government will introduce legislation amending the act used to appoint the independent watchdog in the wake of a committee's decision against renewing Doyle's term.

"When you're working inside a flawed process, you're likely to get a flawed result," Clark told reporters at her Vancouver office.

"We need to fix it for the citizens of British Columbia so that they know that this office will always be above politics."

Future auditors general will be appointed to single eight-year terms if the changes to be introduced in the spring session are passed, Clark said.

Krueger called the premier's move "gracious" but added he has no regard for Doyle, based on an exchange in the legislature last year.

The Kamloops-South Thompson MLA, who was on a public accounts committee at the time, said Doyle insisted that tax credits offered for drilling for natural resources be recorded as a debt, despite the fact they would not be used unless drilling occurred.

"The guy is rude and arrogant and wrong sometimes, but he won't admit it. . . . I don't think he carries the respectful way an auditor general should."

The premier said she reviewed best practices across Canada and within the federal government to make the decision.

"By doing this we give the auditor general appropriate time to pursue the matters he or she needs to look into appropriately and effectively, without worrying about whether or not they will be rehired," she said, "and without perceptions that election year concerns are playing a role."

A Liberal-dominated committee decided earlier this month not to renew Doyle's contract for another six years.

The move comes in the midst of allegations from the Opposition NDP that the committee had shunned Doyle because his work routinely criticizes the Liberal government, which heads into an election in May.

Clark now suggests the members of the five-person committee consider extending Doyle's expiring term by another two years, in order to complete the new eight-year scheme.

The independent committee is not legally bound to explain its decisions, but must make them unanimously.

"If I had my wish, Mr. Doyle would be offered the opportunity to stay on," she said, while noting the decision clearly remains in the committee's hands.

Several of Doyle's reports have taken aim at the government on spending issues. He has also spearheaded a drive to uncover more information about a decision to pay $6 million in legal bills for two former government aides who pleaded guilty to corruption charges.