An austere federal Tory backbencher was election the new leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives last weekend. 

Patrick Brown defeated Ontario deputy PC Leader Christine Elliott for the top party job. Brown had some big name supporters throughout his campaign, including hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, who helped him sell party memberships.

But he also drew controversy when he sought support from an anti-abortion group. Brown resigned his seat in parliament on Wednesday after his big win.

Here is the transcript from Brown's interview today on CTV's Question Period with Robert Fife:

Fife: And joining me now from Queen's park in Toronto, Patrick Brown. So, Mr. Brown, you spent nine years in parliament, and I have to be honest, most media here didn't know much about you other than you were a good hockey player. And after you ran for the leadership, we discovered you were a buddy of Wayne Gretzky and the prime minister of India.

Brown: Well, it was a, an arduous campaign but obviously, I'm, I'm pretty excited about the new, about the new journey.

Fife: Okay, but what made you decide to run for the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives? Is it the fact that you had never been brought into the Harper cabinet, and were concerned that you might never make it into cabinet?

Brown: No, no. You know, I've been a member of the party for 22 years at both levels. You know, I loved my time in Ottawa. I was honoured to be the GTA caucus chair. As the prime minister told me, that was the key electrical, electoral battleground for, for the party and I took great enthusiasm towards that task. My role with the Canada-India Parliamentary Association, obviously, I invested a lot of time into that, as well, and made some very meaningful friendships and relationships, as you've already mentioned. But I was just so frustrated. I was frustrated on June 12th, seeing the provincial PC party, in my opinion, blow an election. I don't think Kathleen Wynne won the election. I thought the PCs lost it. And it motivated me to look at this seriously and I went around the province. I talked to Conservatives. And I felt that I had a lot to offer. And, you know, here I am a year later as leader of the party.

Fife: Now, the Ontario Liberals are trying to use the same tactics against you that the federal Liberals did against Stephen Harper in their early years, pitting you as an extreme right-winger, pro-life, anti-gay. How are you going counter that?

Brown: You know, I still laugh about those old federal Liberal ads. I remember they used to play the hidden agenda about Stephen Harper and there'd be soldiers on the streets and abortion legislation would be changed. Reality is none of that happened. And, you know, I can tell you I'm a pragmatic Conservative. You know, my focus is going to be on making Ontario the easiest place to invest, cutting red tape, building transportation corridors, and getting cheap energy.

Fife: Are you worried at all that you might be too closely tied to Mr. Harper? And do you have to run as a Progressive Conservative to win in Ontario? In other words, be more middle of the road?

Brown: Well, no, I'm just going to be a pragmatic Conservative. It's who I am. I think it's important just to be authentic. And frankly, in terms of the prime minister, you know, he won the vast majority of seats in Ontario, and I think he focussed on the economy and that will be my focus.

Fife: Now, Mike Harris was successful when he went across the province, listened to a lot of people, came up with policies. For example, it turned out to be very popular when he did welfare reform, is that your game plan here is to go out and spend a few years talking to people, then drafting policy that you hope will appeal to most Ontarians?

Brown: Well, I'm a big believer in listening and consulting. You know, I, one thing I quoted throughout the campaign was there was a big supporter of mine, a Sikh elder by the name of Gurdash Gill in Mississauga, and he, he gave me advice at the beginning of the campaign. He said, god gave you two ears and one month. Listen more than you talk. Politicians sometimes forget that. And so I do want to listen. I want to go out and reach out to stakeholders, to party members, to municipal leaders, to the variety of walks of life that are in the province and build a platform that's about moving Ontario forward. And I feel for far too long at Queen's Park, the policy platforms of all the parties seem to be run out of the bubble that is Queen's Park. You know, I want to build a platform that is driven by the energy of Ontario.

Fife: Now, you don't have a seat in the Ontario legislature. Is that one of your first priorities, to get into the legislature?

Brown: Well, I certainly want to be in the legislature prior to the next provincial election. You know, it doesn't have to be an immediate priority. Obviously, I've set out a goal that I want to build the party to be 100,000 members strong. You know, we started this leadership at 10,000. We're up to 76,000 now. I want to grow it further. I also believe that it's important to have the party on a strong financial footing. So, yeah, I'm going to invest some time fundraising, making sure that the party is in a position, like they were last time, where they were significantly outspent by the opposition.

Fife: Now, since your big win, have you spoken to the prime minister and what advice has he given you?

Brown: Well, you know, obviously I consider the prime minister a friend and I have spoken to him a few times, and it's just been more about well wishes and in saying good-bye. You know, you end up in Ottawa for nine years, it's not just colleagues. They're, they're friends. And, you know, this week I had to say good-bye to, to many friends. So, I guess it's been an exciting but at the same time a little bit of an emotional week because it's a, it's a new chapter.

Fife: Well, Mr. Brown, thank you very much. Appreciate you coming in and speaking to us.

Brown: My pleasure.