G8 summit should focus on global downturn-Canada

OTTAWA, July 6 (Reuters) - This week's meeting of the leaders of the Group of Eight nations in Italy should focus on the implementation of a response to the global economic downturn, a senior Canadian official said on Monday.

"One of the things that's vital is that the G8 summit ... focus on implementation and the continued coordinated response to the economic worldwide downturn," Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, told reporters in a briefing ahead of the G8 meetings. (Reporting by Randall Palmer and Louise Egan. Writing by Frank Pingue; Editing by Peter Galloway)