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The devices were left outside the B.C legislature where crowds were going to gather for Canada Day celebrations, the RCMP said.

Police said the investigation has been ongoing since February but at no time was the public safety at risk and that the devices were “under RCMP control.”

The accused are Canadian-born, police said, and said they had no contact with international terrorist organizations but were “inspired by Al-Qaeda.”

Assistant Commissioner Wayne Rideout described the pair as “self-radicalized.”

The pair live in Surrey, B.C. and we arrested in nearby Abbotsford.

Nutall has a 2010 conviction for possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, among other criminal convictions, the Vancouver Sun reports.

The RCMP said the arrests have been made in relation to project SOUVENIR, a national security investigation co-ordinated by a RCMP-led Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.

Premier Christy Clark said “the very symbol of our values as British Columbians and Canadians” was targeted.

“Let me say this to those who resort to terror: You will not succeed in damaging our democratic institutions but just as importantly, you will not succeed in tearing down the values that made this country strong,” she said. “What do they want? They want us to be governed by fear. They want us to view each other with suspicion. They want us to be seized by anger. They want this because they hate the things that make us Canadian.”

Clark said she was informed of the plot on Monday morning.

The national security team consists of members of the RCMP, CSIS, the Canada Border Service Agency and other agencies.