B.C. Liberal candidate facing scrutiny over 2012 tweets
"Many people out there shouldn't be having kids" posted Burnaby-Lougheed candidate Randy Rinaldo
A B.C. Liberal candidate is under scrutiny for a series of tweets from 2012 in which he suggested child poverty is the result of poor parenting.
Randy Rinaldo, who will be running in the riding of Burnaby-Lougheed in next year's provincial election, stated "child poverty is a cultural problem" and that "many people out there shouldn't be having kids."
Rinaldo also suggested funding contraception as a way to control child poverty.
Rinaldo is a real estate agent in Burnaby. Some of his tweets were directed at then Vancouver School Board chair Patti Bacchus and NDP supporters.
Bacchus told CBC News Thursday she was surprised to see Rinaldo had been selected by the B.C. Liberals to run in the next election.
"I looked at the exchange we had on child poverty which I believe to be a very serious problem in this province," said Bacchus. "We are still the last province not to have a poverty reduction strategy so it's very much a provincial political issue in my opinion. And he was very dismissive... and quite offensive about what poverty was about."
In other postings Rinaldo spoke crassly about privatizing the B.C. liquor distribution branch, and suggested someone should run over a recently released sex offender.
Other tweets spoke about the Roma.
Many of the posts have been taken down. Last night Rinaldo tweeted his "wife wisely reminds me I should think before I tweet."
The B.C. Liberal party weighed in on its own twitter account.
1/2 Our Party has a thorough candidate vetting process. <a href="https://twitter.com/RanRinBC">@RanRinBC</a> openly disclosed that he had posted content in the past which he regrets.
—@bcliberals2/2 In our SoMed generation, we must find a balance btwn holding individuals accountable for past comments & accepting that opinions change.
—@bcliberalsThursday morning Rinaldo tweeted an apology.
As a member of the Facebook generation I'm aware of the benefits of this forum, but should have understood the pitfalls. 2/2 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bcpoli?src=hash">#bcpoli</a>
—@RanRinBCI want to apologize unreservedly for my past social media posts. They were insensitive and don't reflect the person I am today. 1/2 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bcpoli?src=hash">#bcpoli</a>
—@RanRinBCIn a statement the B.C. Liberal party said Thursday it has a thorough candidate vetting process.
'Randy is a strong candidate," said the statement. "As a small business owner and entrepreneur in Burnaby, he is a defender of free enterprise. And as a husband and a father, he is deeply invested in B.C.'s future."
With files from Farrah Merali