Area politics for ministers?

The National Agency for Medicines is being moved from Helsinki to Kuopio, which is a city of a bit under 100 000 people about 400 km away.

That's about 200 people who either need to leave their homes, families and friends, arrange for moving their families to Kuopio, or look for another job in Helsinki. In most Finnish families both adults work, which makes moving because of one person's work somewhat difficult.

The Minister of Social Affairs and Health Liisa Hyssälä says it's not a big deal even if all the employees in Helsinki quit. Who cares? Probably makes them all feel really valued, too.

I have a better idea: why don't we move the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to Kuopio? Hyssälä will surely be overjoyed, at least as a Keskusta politician who supports moving big state workplaces somewhere far away, and it's not a big deal if some minister quits because of the move.