In a special report from Canadian Business, H+K Americas region president and CEO Mike Coates has been named one of Canada’s 50 Most Powerful Business People in 2014.

The Power 50—for short—includes some of Canada’s most prominent dealmakers who rule the boardrooms and call the shots in 2014 to truly made things happen in this country.

Check out Mike’s Power 50 profile below, and visit the site to see who else made the cut. The article also ran in the September 2014 print issue.

Mike Coates
President and CEO, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Americas

Has crazy connections

There is no lobbyist in Ottawa with a longer history or stronger connections with government than Mike Coates. Before joining Hill+Knowlton more than 30 years ago, Coates served as a staffer to cabinet ministers in the Mulroney government. More recently, he helped Prime Minister Stephen Harper prepare for debates in three elections. He’s been a lobbyist on every politically sensitive merger or sale in Canada in the past decade. Now, the ultimate Ottawa insider is moving to New York, where he’ll lead his firm’s new regional operation.