Photo: CTV

A suspect in an alleged terror attack is escorted by RCMP at Buttonville Airport in Toronto on Monday

The RCMP have arrested two people in connection with a homegrown terror plot to derail a New York-to-Toronto Via Rail passenger train on the Canadian side of the border.

Police identified the suspects as Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, of Montreal and Toronto.

They were arrested Monday morning and are facing criminal charges including conspiracy to carry out an attack against, and conspiring to murder persons unknown for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group.

Assistant RCMP Commissioner James Malizia, the officer in charge of federal policing operations, said the alleged plot was “al Qaeda-supported.”

“Had this plot been carried out, it would have resulted in innocent people being killed or seriously injured,” Malizia told reporters at a news conference in Toronto.

 Malizia added that “while the RCMP believed that these individuals had the capacity and intent to carry out these criminal acts, there was no imminent threat to the general public, rail employees, train passengers or infrastructure.”

The arrests were the culmination of a nearly year-long investigation, dubbed “Operation Smooth,” which began in August 2012.

The investigation was a joint effort by the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and included assistance by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations.

The two people arrested Monday are not linked with two men from London, Ont., who died in an al Qaeda-linked siege on a gas plant in Algeria last January,” CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported earlier Monday. They are also not linked to the suspects in last week’s deadly Boston Marathon bombing.

The suspects are described as being older, so “it does not appear to be a case of radicalization of youth,” Fife said.

Fife said police had planned to make the arrests three weeks ago, but for unknown reasons they picked up the suspects on Monday.

The arrests come as MPs debate an anti-terrorism bill that has been in the works for months but has taken on greater significance in the wake of the deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon last week.

Bill S-7, the Combating Terrorism Act, includes provisions that make it an offence to leave the country to participate in acts of terror. It also grants police the powers to pre-emptively arrest someone and hold them for three days without charge, and allows for imprisonment for up to 12 months for refusing to testify before a judge in an investigative hearing.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews issued a statement Monday afternoon commending the RCMP on its efforts, and also thanking the FBI for its assistance in the investigation.

“Today’s arrests demonstrate that terrorism continues to be a real threat in Canada,” Toews said.