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Four instructors in La Cité Collégiale’s respiratory therapy program have been suspended for “insubordination” after they balked at squeezing the remaining year’s material into a condensed school calendar following a five-week strike.

The francophone college wanted the instructors to sign a document guaranteeing that all the necessary competencies required of the program’s 77 students would be met while still finishing the school year by the end of April, said their union.

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“They can’t guarantee that. It was impossible for them to sign that contract. Their best judgment told them it would not be wise,” said Mona Chevalier, president of the faculty union. “The college is very strict. They want guarantees. These are licensed professionals. They are worried about the ethical parameters of this. It could be life-or-death.”

Respiratory therapy is recognized under the Regulated Health Professions Act. Often working in hospital emergency rooms and critical care units, respiratory therapists use mechanical ventilators and other life-support equipment. They also help diagnose and treat heart and lung disease.