Municipal officials have failed to stop Nova Scotia legislation intended to speed up housing developments in Halifax.

Introduced last week, Bill 329 would give the provincial housing minister power to OK projects.

On Monday, Mayor Mike Savage, officials and staff told the law amendments committee that the bill is unnecessary and harmful to democracy, calling it an “infringement on the city’s autonomy.”

Savage said it “is an autocratic intrusion into Municipal Affairs and completely ignores the biggest problem it claims to address.”

He attributes delays to soaring costs, high interest rates, supply chain issues and a labour shortage.

Despite HRM officials’ arguments, the committee’s Progressive Conservative majority voted to return it to the legislature without amendments.