Vitale and Urso were sent to Montreal by Massino in 2001 to familiarize themselves after the death of Sciascia. The objective of that meeting was to name Vito Rizzuto the new capo. Vitale was received with respect and introduced to other members such as Joe Di Maulo. Rizzuto however politely declined Vitale's offer because he didn't want the responsibility even though he was already de facto head of the crew and the Montreal Mafia as a whole. As capo he would've been obligated to regurarly travel to New York and rapport to Massino so there wasn't much to gain for him by accepting that title. Another possible reason why he declined is that he may have developed a grudge towards Massino, who he held responsible for killing Sciascia. I think because of his status and the amount of respect he wielded he was able to decline the offer without facing repercussions. However, contact between the two groups remained, which is backed up by several sources. Daniel Renaud stated that Montagna was used as a messenger and regurarly traveled to Montreal before his deportation.