In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has opened the door for federal authorities to deport accused war criminal Leon Mugesera to Rwanda.

Issuing its 8-0 ruling Tuesday morning, the top court said there is evidence to support claims Mugesera incited genocide in the east-African country more than a decade ago.

That was when Mugesera, who now lives in Quebec City, gave a fiery speech that federal lawyers say planted the seeds of Rwanda's bloody ethnic massacre.

Mugesera was a district vice-president of the hardline Hutu party Mouvement republicain nationale pour la democratie et developpement in 1992, when he gave the speech federal lawyers say promoted hatred, murder, genocide and, in short, constituted a crime against humanity.

Addressing 1,000 party members, Mugesera was quoted telling the crowd they should kill Tutsis and "dump their bodies into the rivers of Rwanda."

There are also reports he spoke of "exterminating these bastards" and warned that "the person whose neck you do not cut is the one who will cut yours."

Eighteen months later -- shortly after Rwandan dictator Juvenal Habyarimana died when his plane was shot from the sky -- Hutus led a bloody massacre that claimed the lives of an estimated 800,000 Tutsis

The government issued an arrest warrant after the speech, but Mugesera fled the country for Canada before it could be served.

Settling in the Quebec capital, Mugesera took a job teaching at Laval University.

Two years after he and his wife and five children were granted permanent residence status, however, Ottawa said he had lied about his past and wanted him out.

In a surprise decision two years ago, the Federal Court of Appeal concluded portions of the speech may have been intentionally mistranslated, and suggested others should be read in context.

Describing the theme of Mugesera's improvised speech as "elections, courage and love," the three-judge panel noted the former politician's reputation as a "fervent supporter of democracy, patriotic pride and resistance to invading forces."

It was the second time a court of appeal had overturned an immigration panel order to deport Mugesera.

Reporting from the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa Tuesday morning, CTV's Rosemary Thompson said the top court dismissed Mugesera's claims he was misquoted out of context.

Considering the transcripts and tape recording of the speech, Thompson said, "It was hard for him to deny he actually said these things."

Having watched the hearings carefully, Rwanda genocide survivor Oscar Gasana said he fully expected the Supreme Court to order Mugesera back to Rwanda.

"There are many elements of proof which were not considered by the previous courts," he told CTV's Canada AM before the court's decision was issued early Tuesday.

Having lost his entire family in the genocide, Gasana said the decision is very important, "Not only for me, but for all the survivors."

For Mugesera, the question now is what happens next.

CTV's Rosemary Thompson said she spoke to Mugesera's lawyer before the Supreme Court ruling.

"He said to me: 'Our greatest concern right now is that even if the father goes home ... that the wife and the five children be allowed to stay here'."

Having been in Canada for a decade, the family is well established, with some of the children now attending university.