A B.C. Liberal candidate is withdrawing from next year's election race after a number of his "insensitive" tweets from 2012 re-surfaced.

Randy Rinaldo, who planned on running in the riding of Burnaby-Lougheed, released a statement on Twitter Friday saying the controversial tweets he had posted had become a "distraction" to his candidacy and family responsibilities.

He reiterated the tweets no longer reflected the person he has become and hoped it would not deter other young people from pursuing public 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," he wrote.

"We should allow people to express their opinions and accept that those opinions can change."

I have made a personal decision to withdraw my candidacy for the 2017 provincial election.. <a href="https://t.co/JeOzJ94OSZ">pic.twitter.com/JeOzJ94OSZ</a> —@RanRinBC

Rinaldo apologized after the tweets surfaced and acknowledged they were "insenstive."

At the time, the B.C. Liberal party said he had openly disclosed the tweets to them and continued to call him a "strong candidate."

The Burnaby real estate agent-turned-political hopeful faced scrutiny for a number of comments which included the suggestion that child poverty is the result of poor parenting.

One of his posts made negative generalizations about the Roma.

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.