His voice quiet and raspy, Mayor Rob Ford (open Rob Ford's poilcard) said Thursday that he has been told he has a “50-50” chance of surviving his rare cancer.

Ford said he is not sure if he will feel well enough to participate in any all-candidates’ debates in Ward 2 (Etobicoke North), where he is now a candidate for his old council seat. But he shrugged off criticism from residents who question his decision to run for office while undergoing chemotherapy.

“Some people are saying that, but a lot more people are saying ‘I want your name on the ballot.’ And we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.There’s other candidates. If they don’t think I’m up to it, then vote for someone else,” he said outside his city hall office. “I think there’s about 12 or 15 people in my ward, I don’t know exactly how many. This came together relatively quick. I was doing great, I was doing fantastic.”

Ford has 13 opponents. One of them, business professional Andray Domise, initially declined to comment for fear of sounding “harsh and insensitive,” then changed his mind minutes later and called Ford’s decision “highly irresponsible.”

“My problem is: he’s put his name on the ballot, and asked to be treated as a serious candidate, so the least that I can do is respect that wish. Which also means holding him accountable,” Domise said.

“So if your name is on the ballot but you’re not showing up for debates, you haven’t released a platform, you haven’t talked about what it is you’re going to do for Ward 2, you’re not canvassing, you’re not knocking on doors, you’re not putting down lawn signs, essentially you’re taking the neighbourhood for granted. You expect to be allowed back into city hall, as a seriously ill person, with no ideas for what we’re going to do for this ward going forward.”

Candidate Luke LaRocque, a community developer, expressed a different view.

“The people in this community are focused on making sure that their community gets things that it needs. And that’s what I’m focused on. If Rob’s going to be focused on those things, and people want to vote for him — because I believe strongly in democracy, I would have a difficult time saying he shouldn’t run until he gets well. It’s a personal decision of his,” LaRocque said.

Ford represented Ward 2 for 10 years, from 2000 to 2010. Polls suggest he holds a big lead over the field. He has been seen canvassing at least once since he was discharged from the hospital.

He spent part of the day Thursday in his office, where his aides have covered the front window with get-well cards.

He skipped a Ward 2 all-candidates’ debate held by Rogers television on Wednesday night, instead attending a mayoral debate in which brother Doug Ford (open Doug Ford's poilcard) was participating. He left minutes after he arrived, saying he was not feeling well.

“We’ll have to see if there’s debates (in Ward 2),” he said. “If it was like today during the day, I think I could have debated today. I think. Last night I couldn’t have, I know that; there’s no way I could have debated last night.”