You're apparantly not the only one who has this opinion, but is this opinion based on actual evidence? It seems that he was respected enough to be introduced around when he arrived in Canada, and initially had support of mobsters connected to the Bonannos in Montreal, like the Arcuris, Desjardins, Joe Renda and others. It seems that he more or less was able to have a leading position within the Bonanno crew in Montreal, not suprisingly, because technically he was their superior when he was acting boss in New York.