Canada's national security depends on intervening to prevent mass atrocities and should be a national priority, according to a new report co-authored by retired general Romeo Dallaire. (CBC)

Canada's national security depends on intervening to prevent mass atrocities and should be a national priority, according to a new report.

"If we continue to deal with looming genocides and other mass atrocities in a reactive manner, we will confront more than just the moral failure to save lives," the authors write, adding, "inevitably, Canada and the U.S. will face threats to their own national security and prosperity."

Retired general Romeo Dallaire, retired diplomat Robert Fowler, former NDP leader Ed Broadbent, Tory Senator Hugh Segal contributed to the report from the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University,

The report outlines the security, political and financial costs of inaction.

For example, mass atrocities often precipitate the spread of communicable diseases. Those fleeing such conflicts could be carriers of such diseases and could end up in Canada.

Public health threats

"Little attention has been paid to the possibility that a neglected humanitarian crisis could evolve into a global pandemic," the report says.

"The costs of not responding to occurrences of mass atrocities in seemingly isolated areas afflicted by the suspension of health care and inoculation programs … may create significant public health threats to residents of American and Canadian cities."

The report also argues that a reactive approach to mass atrocities is much costlier than preventive action.

"The economic costs of intervention are always higher once mass atrocities are underway," it states.

The report makes a number of recommendations to the Canadian government.

The prime minister should make preventing mass atrocities a national priority and appoint an international security minister as a senior member of cabinet, it says.

Soft power interventions

Along with beefing up the Canadian Forces, it suggests creating a civilian-led Canadian Prevention Corps to work with special envoys on preventative diplomacy and fact-finding missions.

The report takes a close look at disasters such as Rwanda, where the world looked on as hundreds of thousands of people were massacred.

Frank Chalk, a history professor at Concordia, an expert on genocide and a co-director of the project, said Canada could have brought pressure on the Rwandan government, from freezing bank accounts to expelling Rwandan students — often the children of officials who would later fan the genocide — from Canadian universities.

These sorts of soft power reactions should be the first resort in future crises, the report said. But if diplomatic efforts and economic sanctions don't work, countries must be prepared to use force.

Dallaire said force should be restricted to protecting the innocent and enhancing security and stability.

With files from The Canadian Press