In Montreal, at a single point, approximately one hundred levels of decision-making were identified. It is difficult to discuss urban planning without mentioning the absurd administrative fragmentation, inherited from a history of accumulated privileges, in which the present is mired and the future jeopardized. However, the priority of the public interest is gradually gaining ground... Interviews with several urban planners and senior officials from Quebec City, Montreal, and Ottawa, including one with Laurent Saulnier, then president of the Montreal Urban Community.