After a series of “insensitive” tweets from 2012 resurfaced earlier this month, the B.C. Liberal candidate for Burnaby-Lougheed has announced he won’t be running in the 2017 provincial election.
In a statement posted on Twitter last Friday, Randy Rinaldo said his past tweets – which include negative generalizations about the Roma population, suggesting that child poverty is a result of poor parenting and a comment about running over a sex offender – have made him reflect on whether the current timing is truly the best fit for him at this point in his life.
“My wife and I are expecting our second child soon, and my responsibility as a father needs to be my priority and focus, one that I take very seriously,” he wrote. “While insensitive Twitter posts from several years ago no longer reflect who I am today, the fact remains that this issue has become a distraction to my candidacy and family responsibilities.”
The negative tweets resurfaced on May 11 after Vancouver School Board trustee Patti Bacchus shared a screen grab of an exchange between her and Rinaldo in 2012. Responding to something Bacchus had posted, Rinaldo wrote, “Child poverty is a cultural problem not a system problem, many people out there shouldn’t be having kids #irresponsible.”
In another tweet directed at former B.C. premier and former MP Ujjal Dosanjh, Rinaldo wrote “the Roma people are destroying my Italy you need to do your home work mr dosanjh, Gypseys=rape pillage steal.”
The real-estate agent by trade apologized “unreservedly” for his past social media activity. In a recent interview with the NOW, Rinaldo said a lot has happened in the four years since he made those statements – he got married, became a dad and served as a riding president for the B.C. Liberals.
In last week’s statement, Rinaldo goes on to say he hopes his decision to opt out of the election doesn’t deter other young people from seeking office.
“It is important that we do not immediately disqualify individuals from seeking to represent their communities because they took positions on complex issues in their past.
“We should allow people to express their opinions and accept that those opions can change.”
