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The lawyer for two Toronto men wrongfully convicted of committing heinous crimes says his clients should sue the government now that they have been denied compensation.

Defence attorney James Lockyer told CTV's Canada AM Thursday that Ontario's refusal to grant Robert Baltovich and Anthony Hanemaayer compensation is simply a stage in a long process.

"The way I have to look at this is that they now should go to civil counsel and commence proceedings," he said.

His comments come a day after Attorney General Chris Bentley said awarding financial compensation to the men was inappropriate.

""They have both been found not guilty as a result of the steps that the justice system has taken," Bentley said. "I actually think that speaks to one of the strengths of the justice system in the province of Ontario and in Canada generally."

Bentley said the government only agrees to financial compensation in "rare, unusual cases."

Robert Baltovich served eight years in jail after being found guilty of killing his girlfriend Elizabeth Bain. He was granted a retrial and then acquitted in 2008.

Hanemaayer was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault in 1987 - a crime to which notorious serial rapist and school-girl killer Paul Bernardo eventually confessed to.

During his trial, Hanemaayer eventually pleaded guilty because he was advised to do so by his lawyer, Lockyer said.

"He believed through his lawyer's advice that he was going to be convicted of the crime and get a high sentence so he took a way out because that was the best thing he could do, facing a charge of something he didn't do," he said.

Lockyer, who is also the founder of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, called the attorney general's rationale behind his decision "absurd."

"The problem is that these men , their lives have been all but ruined by what happened to them," he said. "What happened to them was because of the state and they should be compensated."

He said while the men were not surprised by the province's decision, he certainly was.

"I was surprised. I was hoping the Attorney General would do the human thing but he didn't."