What does it take to get fired from Stephen Harper’s cabinet?

They say job security doesn't exist anymore.

Maybe it doesn't for us regular folks, but it clearly does for those in Stephen Harper's cabinet.

As Tim Harper of the Toronto Star notes in his column, cabinet ministers Bev Oda, Tony Clement and Peter MacKay have all been defended over altered documents, G8 slush funds, and questionable use of government helicopters.

It appears industry minister Christian Paradis has also received tenure.

Last week Paradis was found guilty of conflict of interest for helping former caucus colleague Rahim Jaffer meet with senior bureaucrats on a controversial green-energy project.

But Stephen Harper stood by the Quebec MP.

"The appropriate thing in this case is for the minister simply to learn and to conduct himself with greater precaution in the future," Harper said at a press conference from Thailand last Friday.

This week Paradis is in hot water again for taking a 2009 trip to a hunting lodge owned by former Quebec Nordiques President Marcel Aubut.

According to the Globe and Mail, Aubut, who is now President of the Canadian Olympic Committee, started a discussion about federal funding for a new Colisée in Quebec City.

While the content and length of the discussion are unclear, a spokeswoman for Paradis said the minister cut it short and told Aubut to raise the topic with Josée Verner, who was the Conservative member of cabinet in charge of the file.

The Conservatives ultimately declined to provide federal funding for the professional arena but that is immaterial to the Conflict of Interest Act. Ethics commissioner Mary Dawson said on Tuesday that she has started a preliminary review into the matter.

And once again, Harper, is defending his Quebec lieutenant.

"This was a private trip and there is no link I'm aware of to any government business.," he said Tuesday from South Korea.

A senior minister under the Chretien government, however, suggests that Paradis shouldn't have accepted Aubut's invitation in the first place.

"[As a minister] you shield yourself from such situations by not accepting hospitality from any people with whom there is the potential for a future connection." former environment minister David Anderson told Yahoo! Canada News.

"The fishing trips I accepted were with the Governor General and with the Government of New Brunswick. The Conflict of Interest Commissioner was informed, and he said these trips were ok for a minister to accept. Passing an invitation past the Conflict of Interest Commissioner's office is standard practice."