Premier Brian Pallister and Finance Minister Scott Fielding are being sued over a controversial building lease.

"We have sued the province...and also three individuals for misfeasance of public office which is just abuse of power," said the lawyer for the plaintiffs, Dave Hill.

In May the Pallister government tabled a law to terminate a 20-year $9.4 million lease between the building's owners and the First Nations of Southern Manitoba Child and Family Services Authority.

The facility at 800 Adele in Winnipeg was used to house Indigenous children in care.

Now the building owners, Ken Cranwill and Peter Ginakes, have filed a $7.3 million lawsuit against the Government of Manitoba, Pallister, Fielding and a deputy minister.

The suit alleges the defendants interfered in the lease by trying to break it as far back as February.

The suit claims the Pallister government was motivated by revenge because of the role Ginakes played in supplying tiger dams for the former NDP government in 2011.

"The motive seems to be to get at one of the owners...the landlord Peter Ginakes,” said Hill.

When the law was introduced in May, Pallister and Fielding defended it.

The premier said the facility was not appropriate for its stated care, housing vulnerable youth, and he called the contract indefensible.

"We’re of a mind that the contract that was entered into was not justifiable," said Pallister on May 15. "The building lease and its terms were not in the public interest," said Fielding on May 15.

The lawsuit claims those statements and others have caused damage to the plaintiffs’ reputations in the business community.

"The plaintiffs say that the statements are defamatory, untrue and were maliciously stated and published...." states the lawsuit.

The province sent CTV this statement from Fielding:

“Far too often, the previous government entered into untendered contracts on questionable and inappropriate terms, as raised by the auditor general on multiple occasions. Attempts to renegotiate the lease terms of 800 Adele have not worked. As such, government's only option to protect taxpayers at this point, after exhausting all other options, is to legislate the end of the lease. We are focused on helping kids in care and making sure public dollars are going where they should be for the care of children."

The allegations have not been tested in court.